New Beginnings for Old Allies
by OSP
Summary: Xander finds out that things during S3 weren't all he thought they were. A Xander/Faith fic, this will include others BTVS/ATS figures as well as some OCs. This is my first published work so while I want reviews, please go easy on a brother (I wrote this nearly a decade ago but I've been hesitant to post it.). Set immediately following graduation, reimagines S3; AU from there.
1. Chapter 1

Xander sat on the edge of his bed, running his hand through his hair. The past few hours had been chaotic, and he was surprised to be alive. In fact, he looked back on the last three years with amazement, considering his brushes with death on so many occasions. Now, as his high school career was over, Xander was left with a strange, empty feeling.

If the truth was told, Xander Harris was exhausted, physically and emotionally. The past three years had done a number on the young man. Never having the stable home life he'd craved had long been resolved in his heart, but the fact of the matter was that Xander was, for the most part, alone in life. In spite of his parents, Xander had managed to grow up reasonably well-adjusted. His best friend, Jesse, had been one of the few links to a normal life, but his relationship with his bud had ended badly, one could say.

Add to that the Buffy and Willow situation. Sure, they shared much in common, over and above the fight they fought "together," but of late they'd distanced themselves from him. Giles had never really warmed up to him, and so Xander found himself adrift in a sea of dysfunction.

Then there was Faith. He didn't even want to think about his failure where Faith was concerned. It haunted him whenever he entertained the thought, so he tried his best not to think about it. Try as he might, Xander simply could not seem to find a healthy relationship in his world. He hoped that his cross-country odyssey would help give him some focus and perspective on his life; specifically, what he should do with it.

"Man, I need a shower!" He said out loud as he began peeling off his grimy clothes. "I'll pack and get out of here in the morning." Xander's road trip was the topic of conversation for the past three weeks, and he was looking forward to getting away for a while.

As he removed his t-shirt, Xander noticed the envelope taped to his mirror for the first time. The envelope had his name written on it in simple, block letters. Xander reached for the envelope, plucking it from the mirror.

"What's this, a belated graduation present? Yeah, right," Xander joked to himself as he opened the envelope. Scanning the brief note, Xander read:

_Xander: _

_Meet me at the Espresso Pump at 10:00. Please come alone. _

Xander glanced at the note a second time before returning it to its envelope. Standing in his room shirtless, Xander reached for his shirt and sighed. "Well, the shower can wait. This is just too 'cloak and daggery' to pass up." Putting his shirt back on, he walked out of his room and left his house casually. Tony and Jessica had been rendered comatose long before he had even returned from graduation, so he knew he wouldn't be missed.

The man and woman sat towards the back of the coffee shop. The pair was casually dressed, in the way that would insure that each would go unremembered by an observer. Each had their own reasons for wanting to remain inconspicuous, and one of them was having more success than the other. The woman was jittery as she sat in her chair.

"This is killin' me. He's not gonna show. I should've just waited for him there."

The man tried his best to calm his companion. He placed his hand on her forearm, which got her attention, and spoke calmly. "Settle down. Remember your history together. It's best to ease him into this, not drop it on him. Relax, he'll be here, if for no other reason than to satisfy his own curiosity. Also, you don't want to draw attention to yourself."

This seemed to have the intended effect, and the woman calmed down. So much had gone on over the past year, things for which she owed an explanation. She really hoped that she would have a chance to do that, but she was losing the battle with her anxiety.

People came and went through the coffee shop, not sticking around to enjoy their beverages. Apparently, word had spread regarding the events of earlier in the evening, and no one was taking any chances. As 10:00 approached, the woman began fidgeting again, and spoke to her friend.

"I'm tellin' ya, he's not coming."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," the man said, raising his hand to get someone's attention at the front of the shop. The woman's back was towards the front of the shop, so she hadn't seen the person walking in. She read the eyes of the man she was with, and she felt the presence of someone standing near her. She heard his voice as Xander talked to her associate as he approached the table.

"Hello again, Xander."

"Wow, Wesley, don't you look… normal. Now that I think about it, shouldn't you be at the hospital, half-conscious and whimpering? What's with the clothes, did that knock on your head jar…"

Xander stopped mocking the man as he saw the person at the table with Wesley Wyndham-Price.

"Faith."

**Author's note:** Not every chapter will end this abruptly. I'm working out how I want to upload them versus how I've written the story.


	2. Chapter 2

Faith looked up at Xander, meeting his stare tentatively. "Xander, hi. Thank you for coming. Can you sit down? We need to talk."

The three seconds it took for Xander to overcome the shock felt like three hours. "Yeah, sure, I'll sit. You don't plan on choking the life out of me again, do you?" Xander grabbed a chair and sat down.

His snarky comment did not have the cutting effect he'd wanted. Instead, she quickly looked away, and Wesley filled the space, keeping Faith from breaking down.

"Xander, things have not been as you thought they were. No doubt you can see that for yourself." Xander nodded, and Wesley went on.

"For the past months, Faith and I have been working together. She has been undercover here in Sunnydale since the first day she arrived."

Xander smirked, but saw that Wesley's face hadn't betrayed any humor. "You're kidding, right? Undercover? You expect me to believe that flimsy story? Give me some reason, any reason, to believe you. And why are you telling me? Why not Giles, or Buffy? Were they in on it, too?" He stifled a chuckle as he peppered Wesley with questions.

"I'll answer all of your questions. Yes, this story is true. If you'd like, I can give you the direct line to Quinton Travers. He'll confirm the facts of the matter. No one else knew what was going on here, other than him. Giles and your friends were kept out of the loop for obvious reasons. Security was the top priority, after the Cruciamentum debacle."

Xander winced at the ridiculous test the Council had made Buffy take. That they'd manipulated and threatened Giles to betray Buffy didn't give Xander any real desire to listen to anything the Council had to say, and he spoke up.

"Wesley, why would I want to listen to anything Travers has to say? He was one of the causes of so much pain in our lives this past year."

Wesley nodded. "I agree, and oddly enough, so does he. Once he was back in England, Travers realized his error. He saw the damage that he'd caused in the relationship between Buffy and Giles. However, he also realized that any further interaction with the Council would be marred by the mistrust he'd already caused. Even though he convinced the Council as a whole to scrap the Cruciamentum, he knew that you and your group would never really trust the Council again. It took a great deal of work, but he was able to have the Cruciamentum eliminated from Watcher procedures."

"There are some key points that no one knew, salient points that someone needs to know. Faith's first Watcher, Diana, was my sister. Diana had adopted Faith, along with the help of the Watcher's Council's attorneys. When Diana found Faith, languishing in Boston, they formed a strong bond. Over the year or so Faith and Diana were together, I would periodically visit, while on holiday. Kakistos killed Diana and sent Faith on the run, and it was only after she made it to Sunnydale that I was able to find her and grieve alongside her."

Wes took a sip of tea and continued. "Once I was here in Sunnydale, an associate of mine soon arrived, and we began to help Faith figure out how she wanted to proceed. That's where Faith stepped up with her input."

Xander looked over at Faith, who had been sitting silently, watching Xander's reaction to all of this.

"You had a part in planning this thing?"

Faith nodded and spoke, clearing her throat first. "Yeah. Wes and I were on OK terms before Diana died. He would stop in for a few weeks, chill, and then go back to work. After Kakistos, I was just buggin' out in the hotel. Wes and his friend from work, Derrick, hung out and let me vent, let me cry, and even let me throw a few punches and kicks at 'em. After that, we came up with a plan. Wes would be the typical stiff British guy, and we'd basically irritate you all enough to get closer together and trust each other more. That way, we could have three different assets fighting the fight; you guys, Wes and Derek, and me. What we didn't expect was the drama you all had as a group making that more difficult."

Xander couldn't believe his ears. "You're telling me that this whole past year has been one big con? That you and Wes and Travers played us all?"

Faith saw the hurt in Xander's face, and tried her best to keep it together. She knew exactly to what Xander was referring, so Faith took a moment to get herself together.

Xander saw the turmoil in Faith's eyes, and he was taken aback by it. His original reaction was going to be outrage, but seeing Faith nearly crying, he calmed himself, and gave her time to speak.

"Xander," Faith began, "this was never supposed to get so out of control. Neither Wes nor I wanted things to go down the way they did. We had so many contingency plans in place, but even then things still got crazy! We were never in a position to let anyone know the truth of things. None of us planned for so much hatred and anger here."

She paused and then added, "That, and other things, too."


	3. Chapter 3

Faith trailed off, and it occurred to Xander that she might not be sharing everything on her mind so he decided to change the subject, for the time being.

"Faith, can I ask you some questions? You, too, Wes." Both nodded, and Xander took a deep breath before continuing.

"Are those your real names?"

The question brought laughter from both Wesley and Faith, and it served to lighten the mood just a bit.

"Yes, they are our real names," Wesley answered.

"Good. OK, how long have you two been working together, before Sunnydale, I mean?"

Faith handled that one. "Wes caught up with me just over the Arizona-California state line, a few hours from Sunnydale. He and Derrick had been tracking me and they found me before I got here. I've only known Derrick for a few months, since they caught up to me. I've known Wes for a couple of years. It's different, back in Boston I pretty much did whatever, without Mom worrying or caring about it."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I thought that, too. It's weird, you know, to be a part of a family. Mom was more irritated that I was around, and there was always a "special friend" around, too. I just don't have a ton of history with people who care about me."

Xander nodded. "Is it weird, being part of the Council through adoption?"

Faith furrowed her brow. "What? No, you don't understand, Xander. _Diana_ adopted me, not the Council."

Wesley looked away. He was proud to have Faith point out the difference between being a tool of the Council and part of his family. It was his turn to add to the story.

"After a brief rest we spent some time out in Idaho with a friend of mine from the Legion who had…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. The Legion? Of the _French Foreign_ variety?"

Wes looked puzzled. "That's right. My friend Derek is an American, living up in Idaho. He and I were in the same unit, and we both were well aware of the fight we're fighting now. The Legion has always used certain of its members to fight this battle, since we're essentially a mercenary army. No one really concerns themselves with our comings and goings, so the Legion is often successful where other people would have difficulties."

Xander had read about the French Foreign Legion but he had never met anyone who had been a Legionnaire. "So does the French government sanction this stuff?"

Wes shook his head. "No. The commanding officer of our unit would task Derek and me with what he called, 'assignments of an undetermined length and nature.' This allowed us to operate as we needed, but still within the paper trail of the Legion."

"We're still in the Legion on paper, drawing a salary from them, but our formal service obligation in actual Legion units has long since expired. We don't have an unlimited budget so we have to finance our operations creatively. For example, we own the Espresso Pump, along with the hotel in which Faith resided, and we keep a residence upstairs here, therefore no vampires can enter uninvited. If nothing else, it keeps the coffee addicts safe while they're here. Apparently, we are not the first Legionnaires to be used this way, so there was a system in place. As it turns out, it actually helped Faith and me craft this ruse."

"What do you mean?"

"Xander, Faith and I are, officially, rogue. In order to make this work, Travers and I, along with Faith, decided that we had to sever all official ties to the Watcher's Council. This way, we could legitimately be free of any entanglements, should someone check us out. This idea was hard for me to face, since I was raised with the understanding that my future lay with the Council. I'm a Watcher by birthright, after all. However, Derek was willing to act as a 'cut-out,' funneling information to us from Travers, and vise versa, through dead drops and such."

Wes continued. "This isn't a game, Xander. You know that, and we know that, but for too long the Council has considered this some grand chess match, and it's trained its Watchers to that end. My time in the Legion broke me from that mindset, but it doesn't help others who haven't been exposed to the fact that regular people can, and indeed have, stepped up and committed themselves to fighting this fight. While the Slayer will always have a calling to do what she does, that doesn't give her, or her Watcher, exclusive rights to the fight. In fact, it's almost a crime that there's been the institutionalized superiority inbred into the Slayer/Watcher calling. While Giles is willing to accept that Buffy has had you and Willow, and Cordelia and Oz, of late, surely you have seen that his loyalty is to the Slayer/Watcher paradigm. That he tolerates the help of others, but does not particularly care for it."

Xander had to admit that Wes was right. "Yeah, I guess you make a good point. From the beginning, Buffy has played the, "I'm the Slayer" card when she wanted to do what she wanted to do. Lately, Willow just follows along behind her, doing whatever Buffy wants her to do. They've gotten closer, and that's cool, but I'm just collateral damage waiting to happen, even though I..."

Wes didn't understand what made him stop talking. Faith, however, did.

"He doesn't know about what happened in the basement, Xander, other than you, me, and Derek. It'll stay that way as long as you want it to."

Xander looked over at Faith, who had a proud look on her face. She smiled a bit, and said, "What? You think you're the only one who can sneak around Sunnydale at night? Derek picked you up as you headed into the school. He'd seen Jack and his buddies, and was tracking them, but saw you and thought it'd be a good idea to keep tabs on you."

Xander had to stop and consider what he had just heard. Wes and Faith were family; actually on the side of the righteous. So much had happened to make everyone think that Faith was evil and Wesley was useless. On top of that, there were, Faith excluded since she was a Slayer, regular people fighting the darkness in Sunnydale, people just like him.

"What about the guy you killed? Allan whatshisname? I mean, Buffy saw you, and you tried to pin it on her." He wasn't accusing. Xander was assuming that there had to be an explanation, but he was confused.

Wes smiled a tight smile. "An operative of the Council was sent to Sunnydale to gain more information as to the other business associations Richard Wilkins had. Finch was the operative the Council sent. He was in deep undercover, too deep, as it turned out. We knew about him, and so did the Mayor, who sent him out to be placed in harm's way. We were extracting him the night he 'died.' That was what we used to turn Faith, to get her into the Mayor's good graces."

"What Buffy saw, Xander, was Faith 'stake' Finch with an auto injector disguised as a stake. It had a sedative that dramatically slowed the heart rate. Since Buffy never bothered with a combat medicine course, the drug fooled her. Finch had gotten as much as he could in his time with the Mayor, and the Council wanted to keep him safe. We needed to get Faith involved, so it seemed like the right opportunity. Things had been so tense with the whole Scooby gang, that we thought the 'turn' would keep you guys close to each other, and let Faith get some more information that we desperately needed."

Xander slowly nodded. "What about the other dude, that professor?"

Wes interjected. "The 'professor' was a demon who had been hiding in Sunnydale for two decades. He wanted to add his forces and resources to the Mayor's arsenal. Faith took care of that, and she convinced the Mayor that the demon was going to use his army to fight with the Slayer against him."

Xander chuckled. "Man, we've been totally in the dark. So, you're telling me that all this time, there have been other people fighting here, good and bad? Is there any proof that could put Faith in the clear, if it ever came up about that demon?"


	4. Chapter 4

Wes nodded. "Yes. It should be easy to check up on this part of the story." With that, Wes pulled out a computer disc.

"This is a copy of every file on the 'Professor's' computer. On it, there are phone numbers, notes, shipping manifests, everything. It documents the demon's entire operation, which was easy for him to disguise, given that he was a university professor. He simply had 'artifacts' shipped to the school, and no one was the wiser. It doesn't surprise me that no one saw this scenario coming. Giles is a good man, but his tactical abilities are limited by his Council training, and I did notice a certain insular tendency among all of you. I'm not happy about saying it, but focus was a major problem with the entire group. There was too much of a reliance on old and outdated tactics, weapons, and methodology."

Xander had to agree. "Yeah, you make a good point. We do seem to shoot ourselves in the foot an awful lot. I've never understood why we get so distracted." Xander had a hunch, but he kept it to himself, and that hunch centered around a recently resouled vampire.

"Hey, wait." Xander paused. "How are you even here, Faith? You were in a coma."

Faith smiled, really smiled, for the first time in a while. "Well, I wasn't really in a coma. Yeah, Buffy did try to put my insides on the outside, and it was a bad wound, not too bad for a Slayer, but when I fell into that truck, Derek was driving it; we had arranged it as a last resort. I knew that Buffy was coming for me. Derek had tracked her movement, and gave me a heads up. We came up with the truck as a possible getaway, and it turned out that we needed it. When we got to the hospital, he injected me with that same sedative I hit Finch with. After Wilkins and everyone else cleared out, I came to and Derek got me out of there. We were at the graduation ceremony. Good work, by the way. You saved a bunch of lives, Xander. You need to know that."

Xander nodded dumbly. His head was spinning from all of this info, and he didn't even have all of his questions answered. He had long harbored the feeling that he needed to get away from Sunnydale for a while, and was planning on using this summer trip to clear his head, and figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Now that this information had come up, he _really_ wanted out of Sunnydale for a while.

"Alright, I have a few other questions, but I can't think about much more. Here goes: Faith, what about us?"

There it was. The 800-pound gorilla in the room of this conversation. They all knew that it would come up, it was only a matter of time. Faith took her time, took a deep breath, and began, slowly, softly, but purposefully.

"Xander, that night was so frustrating. I made a mistake when I threw you out. I shouldn't have, I knew I wanted to be honest with you, but I didn't know how. This is all kind of new to me, Xander; you looked at me like no one ever looked at me before. I just freaked. Derek had a room next door, but he and Wes were both out. I didn't know how to tell you, so I thought if I could stay in the role I could track you down after I threw you out. But we got so side-tracked, and I couldn't get back to you when you were alone."

Tears were flowing down her face freely now, and Wes handed her a handkerchief. "Xander, the way you looked at me after we were together, like I was the most special person in your world. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you the truth then. I just didn't know how. I'm sorry, you have to believe me, Xander."

She was nearly pleading with him. Wes put his hand on her shoulder and calmed Faith down a bit. Xander, for his part, was stunned.

He'd admitted to himself long ago that he was head over heels in love with Faith. Xander hadn't told anyone else about his feelings, especially not after the Allan Finch incident. He'd been wrestling with conflicting emotions where Faith was concerned, and he'd beaten himself up for not being able to help her. Now, he simply couldn't believe his ears. She was all but admitting to him that she cared deeply for him. It was too much to comprehend.

Images flashed into Xander's mind. His first glimpse of Faith, wild-eyed and amped up from staking a vampire, jazzed from an evening at the Bronze. But more importantly, he thought back to the scene Faith recalled earlier, and his mind quickly followed lock step behind his heart.

Xander was quiet for a few moments. He thought back to a few times in the library when he could have sworn that he had caught Faith looking at him. It was easy for him to detach from the conversations, since they pretty much considered Xander a liability. At the time, he had chalked it up to Faith sizing everyone up, and that he'd only seen her looking at him by chance. Now, though, he had to stop and rethink that.

"Faith. Look at me."

Faith raised her head, wiping her eyes as she did so. Xander gently placed his right hand on top of Faith's, and smiled that trademark Xander grin.

Their eyes met, and Wesley found himself studying his coffee mug.

"Look, I don't know what to say about all of this. It's too much to take in all at once. But I know that I have strong feelings for you. Always have."

"Since when?" Faith was curious.

Xander returned the smile. "Probably since you staked that vamp outside The Bronze. Don't get me wrong, I thought you were smoking hot, but once I talked to you, I sensed that you were different on the inside. I guess I was more right than I thought, huh? But I think it was after that night that I really started thinking about how much of the same experiences we've had. That, and how much closer we could've been if I'd reached out to you sooner. Once you went bad, or whatever, I went to try to bring you back. I guess I realized then that I wanted to be more than just a quick ride and a good time."

Faith was stunned that Xander had shared his heart with her like that. It was almost too much to bear. In fact, it quickly became too much, and Faith reached across and squeezed Xander's hand.

"I'm so sorry things went this way. Is it possible to start over, fresh?"

Xander looked puzzled and thought for a while. "I don't know, Faith. How about we just not worry about starting over and just try to move forward together with all this?"

Faith smiled, a happy smile settling on her face as she nodded her head, wiping away the tears.

"Well, now that I am thoroughly disgusted, Faith, would you care to tell Xander the other reason why you asked him to meet us here tonight?"


	5. Chapter 5

Faith playfully smacked Wes' shoulder, and then looked at Xander. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Xander, I wrote you that note so that you'd come here and hear us out. Also, we want you to come with us over the summer to Idaho to stay at Derek's place."

Xander let that sink in. "Why me? I mean, other than my devilish good looks?" That earned him a smack on the arm. "Ow." Wes chuckled at the two teens and answered.

"Faith brought up something a while back that Derek and I have noticed. You're the toughest one out of all of your cohorts. Giles has his training and experience, Buffy is a Slayer, Willow knows computers, research, and now, magic. You, on the other hand, have no serious combat or support training, yet you are the first into the battle. So much so that your friends don't want you involved. They'd rather keep you safe while emasculating you at the same time. We talked it over, and frankly, Xander, you have the skill set where it counts. Your heart is in this fight, and you aren't going to quit because someone else tells you it's too dangerous. We can teach you the other things, but your heart is where it needs to be."

Wesley had no way of knowing it, but he had just become a surrogate father to another wayward youth. Xander had never really trusted that people meant what they said, but there was something concrete about how Wes had just described their reason for wanting to train and work with him. Xander looked at his love, and looked back to Wesley.

"This is overwhelming, Wesley. It's a lot to take in. Honestly, I've wanted to get away from Sunnydale for a while now. It doesn't seem like I can help out here anymore; people just treat me like I'm a fool and I can't do any good. I had to stake my best friend, and no one has ever bothered to ask me how that felt. Willow knew Jesse just as long as I did, and she never once talked to me about it. The others just tolerate me being around, mainly because I come as a package deal with Willow. I won't quit this fight. I don't care about Giles' tradition, or the fact that Buff is a Slayer. This is my town; I grew up here. I want to learn what I can to make this town safe. And besides, having a totally hot girl in my life could only be a bonus, right?"

While Faith smiled at Xander, Wes simply rolled his eyes. "Good. OK, we had planned on leaving in the morning. Derek has an RV ready and waiting in the hotel parking lot. You've got a car for this trip you had planned, right?"

Xander nodded. "Yep, my Uncle Rory's old wheels. Why?"

"You'll have to drive that out of Sunnydale. If you simply ride with us, the others will think something bad happened to you when they see the car's still here. We don't want to raise any alarms, so once you get out of town, we can store your car somewhere, and you can ride with us the rest of the way."

Xander smiled. "Cool. Look, I need to grab a shower, and get some things packed. Faith, can you stop by?"

Faith frowned. "I'd love to, but I need to keep a low profile. The others still think I'm in a coma, remember?"

"Yeah, that's right. How do you plan to let them in on this?"

It was Wesley who answered. "Quinton is on his way into Sunnydale. He's going to pay Giles a visit once he has a phone call from us and we're out of the area. Just in case things go badly, we thought it would be wise to be away from the center of the storm."

"That's probably a good plan. Everyone was on edge before, and hearing that people have kept them in the dark who are still hanging around probably isn't the best idea. Buff probably needs some time, with Angel leaving after this fight."

Xander shook his head when he thought of all of the pain that Angel had caused, and how Buffy had been so quick to forget that in order to satisfy her own desires. He had to give the vamp credit, though. Leaving was the right thing to do. He'd be glad to have Sunnydale free of the distraction of Angel.

"Right. Faith, I'll get the car. I'll pick you up out front. Xander, good to have you with us." With that, Wesley got up and walked to the parking lot, leaving Xander and Faith alone for the first time in a long while.

"Faith, I can't believe this is happening. I just never thought that I'd be sitting anywhere near you."

Faith smiled. "Yeah, it seems too good to be true. But Xander, we really do need to take things slow. Wes and I, Derek, too, have all talked about how this assignment has affected all of us. I know I mislead you about a lot of things because of this job, but you need to know that I did feel a connection with you, Xander. I think you and I have had similar pasts, and we both need to get to know each other better. To be honest with you, I can't wait to get to know all about you."

Faith squeezed Xander's hand as she went to get up. Xander spoke. "I agree. I think that being with Cordy, then the mess with Willow made me realize that I need to go slower than I have been. I don't want to screw this up."

They got up and began walking to the front door. Neither of them knew what to expect from the next few months, but a major hurdle had been overcome, and both were excited to see what the future would bring.


	6. Chapter 6

The evening passed without incident, and Xander was ready to roll around 6 in the morning. He walked out of his front door with what little money he could scrounge over the past year or so, plus the little bit Uncle Rory had slipped him for graduation. As he hit the door, he noticed a small, but relatively new RV parked out at the curb in front of his house. Walking up to it, he dealt with a small case of butterflies in his stomach. He opened the door to the RV and climbed in.

Wesley was driving, and Faith was in the back, relaxing. The passenger was, he suspected, Wes' friend Derek. The man was roughly six feet tall, and was somewhat stocky. His hair was cut down to stubble, and he was clean-shaven. His dark brown eyes were clear and calm, and the man had the look of a man who had survived quite a number of battles. However, he had a small smile on his face as he reached out to shake Xander's hand.

"Derek James, nice to meet finally meet you, Xander."

"Uh, yeah, you too." Xander was a bit puzzled, but shook the man's hand. He had a firm, confident grip, not overly hard or confrontational.

Derek took in the boys puzzled expression and decided to have a little fun. "Something wrong, Xander? You're looking at me like you expected me to be sitting here with my _kepi blanc _on or something."

Xander laughed and replied, "Uh, no, I just…"

"Relax, Xander, I'm just messing with you. You don't know this, but I've been shadowing you from time to time. Faith asked if I could keep an eye on you from a distance. That way, you'd be safe for when she had a chance to talk to you."

Xander was irritated at first, but the more he thought about it, it made sense. Faith had said that she'd been confused as to how to handle her feelings and her assignment. He was grateful that she had someone to be able to ask for help.

"I'm sorry about that. It was hard to let Derek handle that, but that I couldn't do anything more to help you." She shook her head. "There've been so many secrets, Xander."

Derek spoke from the front of the RV. "That's why where leaving town, Faith. Getting away from Sunnydale'll give you a chance to get back to normal. Plus it'll give you a safe place to relax without people gunning for you."

Xander nodded. There was something about this guy that he liked. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Derek seemed like a decent guy.

"He's right, Faith. This part of your life is over. It's time to move on, and we're here to help."

Derek nodded, and sat back in his seat. He had hoped that Xander would be the supportive influence for Faith that he was turning out to be. Derek looked over at Wes before they made their way to Idaho, to Derek's home. "Wes, Travers called and told me he was planning on stopping by Buffy's place later today."

He turned to Xander. "Hey, what do you expect Buffy and Willow's reaction to be to Travers' revelations? I expect Giles to be upset at first and then he'll understand. He's been around the block long enough to know how this stuff works. The others, not so much, you know?"

Xander thought for a minute, and answered. "Well, I don't think either Buff or Wil will handle it well. It doesn't matter much to them when they're keeping the secrets, but they don't like it when the tables are turned. Maybe G-Man can talk some sense into them. I've been thinking, and I think Willow has been jealous of Faith from the start, so I doubt she'll be eager to accept anything that is positive about Faith. Buff, too, but I think she just hated the idea of another Slayer at all. It's funny, because she always seemed to whine about being 'chosen,' but when she got a break, and another Slayer was around, she was protective of her turf. I don't know," he said as he shook his head, "I just got pretty tired of all of it."

Derek shook his head. "Look, I get it. We all need a break from time to time. You'd planned on leaving for the summer as a break before we talked to you, right?"

"Yeah. Everyone seemed to have a direction after high school, except me. I didn't think college was for me, but I didn't know what was. The military wasn't really for me, so I felt kind of lost. With all of the drama from the last year, I needed to clear my head."

"Well, Xander, this trip will probably help both of you. We've made some rough plans for when we come back to the Hellmouth at the end of the summer, and if you want, we can talk about how you can be a part of them." Derek glance slyly back towards Faith. "That is, if everyone's alright with that." He grinned as he saw Faith stick her tongue out at him, and laugh.

"Yeah, I guess it alright with me," she said as she looked over at Xander, "if Xander really wants to."

Xander laughed out loud as he reached for Faith's hand. "Like I said last night, my place is right next to you."

Derek shook his head in mock disgust. "Wes, you're right. He says the sappiest things I've ever heard, too. Alright, Xander, hop into your car, follow us out, and we'll find a place to stash your wheels."


	7. Chapter 7

Willow slept the sleep of the dead, and was now awake, ready to see her longtime friend off on his cross-country trek. She was up, moving, and out the door by 8:00; surely this was early enough to stop by and say good-bye to Xander.

She walked up to Xander's house, looking over to his neighbor, who was walking out to pick up his paper.

"Hi, Mr. Garrett. How are you this morning?"

"Fine, Willow. Come to see Xander?" She had said good morning to Mr. Garrett for the last twelve years; their banter was familiar.

"Yep."

"Well, you're a little late. He took off this morning, around 6. There was an RV behind his car, and he stopped to chat with the folks inside, then they left. Thought I saw a pretty little brunette inside, along with two men. She was a cute little number, wore leather pants."

Willow stopped and thought for a moment before speaking. "Well, that just doesn't make any sense. I mean, the only person who might wear leather…" She trailed off and got a worried look on her face.

"Thanks, Mr. Garrett. I'll see you later." She took off before Mr. Garrett could speak, positive that something horrible had happened to her friend.

Willow raced to Revello Drive, not caring that Buffy was still sleeping. Something bad had happened to Xander, and she needed the Slayer's help to get him back.

No one had thought that the dark-haired Slayer would ever awake from her coma, and that was fine by Willow. The rogue Slayer had nearly killed them all, and Willow Rosenberg was not one to let a grudge go.

Knocking on the door of the Summers' residence, Willow tried to catch her breath. The door opened, and Joyce Summer answered, wearing her robe and slippers, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Willow, it's nice to see you." The eldest Summers woman stepped to the side, allowing for the human Willow Rosenberg to enter uninvited. Joyce Summers came late to the battle in Sunnydale, but that didn't mean she was a slow learner, and when instructed, she was eager to keep her home as safe as possible.

"Willow, what's wrong? You look upset."

Willow paused, remembering that Mrs. Summers was in the loop now. In one long run-on sentence, Willow unloaded. "Well I went to say bye to Xander and his neighbor told me that he got in his car and left with two guys and 'cute little brunette' and now I think Faith is out of her coma and she kidnapped Xander and I need to talk to Buffy and is she awake yet?"

Joyce took a moment and sorted through all of the thoughts in Willow's statement and answered. "Buffy's upstairs in the shower. You say Faith is out of her coma?" She did not like the way the situation with Faith had begun, developed, or ended, and while she was upset that Faith fell through the cracks, she did not excuse the young woman's slide, or the subsequent actions, as she understood them. Joyce continued to process, and asked another question.

"Willow, did you say that Xander got in a car and left with Faith and these men, or did they leave separately?"

The question brought Willow up short, and the young redhead thought about it for a moment.

"Well, I think he got into his own car and that the two men and Faith were in an RV."

"OK, well, wouldn't that mean that Xander was comfortable enough with those people to travel with them?"

"Yes, I guess it does. But it doesn't make any sense! Why would Xander want to go anywhere with Faith? And, and who were the other two men?"

Buffy came downstairs, and saw her mom and Willow talking in the living room. "What's up?"

Willow related the events of earlier in the morning, and Buffy took it all in. "OK, Mom's right. Xander wouldn't just get into his own car and leave against his will, not without someone holding him hostage. But it still doesn't make sense. We should call Giles and see what he thinks." With that, Buffy got on the phone, and after a few moments, hung up.

"He'll be over here in twenty minutes. We'll get to the bottom of this, Willow, don't worry."

The three women sat in the dining room, waiting for Giles to arrive. Fifteen tense minutes passed, and Rupert Giles knocked on the door. Buffy went to let him in, and the four sat and discussed the past few hours.

"There could be an explanation, Buffy," Giles noted, "however, given the circumstances of the last few months, we should begin to look into this immediately. Why don't you call the hospital and tell them that you are Faith's sister. You're on your way into Sunnydale from out of town and were wondering about her status."

Just as Buffy picked up the phone to dial, a person knocked on the door. More suspicious than before, Joyce looked through the peephole. She turned and spoke.

"It's that horrible Travers person."


	8. Chapter 8

Joyce Summers opened the door, and, before allowing him to speak, made sure she expressed her displeasure with seeing him again.

"I thought that my daughter made it clear that you weren't welcome in Sunnydale after what you put us through, Mr. Travers. Why are you back and what could you possibly have to say to us?"

Quinton Travers was not one to be caught off guard, and today was no exception. However, he did not take the bait and begin defending himself. Too much had changed, and he had to begin showing people the differences.

"Yes, Miss Summers made it crystal clear. However, I have some information that I think is relevant to all of you, and I would like to have a conversation with you, if that is possible. I would be willing to meet at whatever venue with which you all would feel comfortable, Mr. Giles included."

All four of the Scoobies were caught flat-footed. This was a tone and a demeanor that they did not expect from the head of the Watcher's Council, and everyone looked to Rupert Giles, given that they all had him in common. Giles cleared his throat.

"Ahem, yes, well, why don't we sit down here and you can tell us what you have to say. Is that alright, Joyce?"

Things had gotten decidedly less strained between the mother and the Watcher of the Slayer over the last months. Buffy hadn't quite gotten past the two of them being intimate but she'd gotten far enough down the road that she didn't get the wiggins when they were around her.

Once Joyce had learned the reality of her daughter's calling, and how Giles functioned as her Watcher, the change had begun. Add to that the events of the Cruciamentum, and the two adults in Buffy's life acted like a traditional parental unit should, acting in concert with the needs of the other in mind, all for Buffy's well-being.

Joyce, for her part, appreciated having Giles around, even if it was a bit awkward at times. Giles as well, found the company of a cultured woman his own age a welcome surprise, given his usual company. The two interacted well, and they did in this case, also.

"That would be fine. Can I get anyone anything? Mr. Travers, I'd just as soon offer you rat poison as anything, but do you want something?" Clearly, Joyce Summers had a long memory when it came to people manipulating her daughter and putting her in harm's way.

"Tea would be lovely, Mrs. Summers. Whatever you have on hand would be wonderful." No one else wanted anything, probably to make Travers squirm, but he seemed not to mind. The tea was served, and the five sat down at the dining room table.

"Thank you, Mrs. Summers." Quinton Travers took a sip of his tea, paused, and continued. "I've come here to shed some light on recent events here in Sunnydale. However, before I do that, there are some things that need to be addressed. Miss Summers, I want you to know that the Cruciamentum will no longer be used by the Council in any way."

He paused to let that statement sink in, and to let Buffy speak. The Slayer merely nodded, so Travers continued. "To put it mildly, Miss Summers, the Council was wrong. It does not make me happy to admit it, but the bottom line is that we allowed ourselves to become too insular; we clung to the past far too much. It was only after seeing the damage done to the relationship between you and Mr. Giles that we had to step back and reconsider our methods."

"Which must be British for, 'We screwed up, and had to pull our butts out of the fire.'" Buffy noted with more than a little derision in her voice.

"Buffy, let the man finish," her mother said.

"Actually, Mrs. Summers, she's not too far from the truth. We have a long legacy of doing things to strengthen our position. It was always Watcher and Slayer. No one else mattered. As times changed, we did not. The need for the Cruciamentum has long passed, and when I returned to England and reported the events, it was decided that we needed to seriously look at how our actions and attitudes as an organization may be hurting the current Slayer and her Watcher, not to mention the unique people with whom they associate."

The words hung in the air, and Rupert Giles was the first to speak. "Quinton, I must say, I'm stunned that you would come here and admit this. What happened?"

"Actually, Rupert, the Council was never unanimous in its support of the test as a valid tool; we had simply stuck with tradition for the sake of tradition. This was our error, and once we sat and considered what could have happened to everyone involved, we realized that we placed tradition higher than the people that tradition involved." Travers turned to Joyce Summers. "Mrs. Summers, please accept the Watcher's Council's humblest apologies for putting you in harm's way. It should never have happened."

Buffy had been glaring at Travers up until this, but her face softened a bit. Joyce spoke next.

"I appreciate that, Mr. Travers, but that doesn't change the fact that you had Rupert drug my daughter. I hope that you can see that that is worse, in a mother's eyes, than any danger in which she might find herself. Furthermore, Mr. Travers, I don't really believe that the Watcher's Council really cares about their relationship with the Slayer. After all, you sit in your compound in England, barking out orders that you expect one man and a girl to handle the way you demand them!"

Travers bristled slightly. "Mrs. Summers, I have tried to articulate your point of view during our deliberations regarding the Cruciamentum. I have considered your feelings toward us, and they have been enlightening, to some degree. Indulge me, if you will, for a moment. The interactions between the Council and the Slayer notwithstanding, the Council engages the forces of evil on many different levels, and we deal with tragedy on an hourly basis. Consider, Mrs. Summers, getting a report from a contact in a major metropolitan hospital that indicates that a pack of vampires raided the newborn unit of her hospital and snatched twenty infants. Imagine still, that you get an additional report from your contact within that same city's police department that there was a pile of newborn corpses scattered in a graveyard." He paused to look pointedly at Joyce.

"Mrs. Summers, the burden the Council carries is its own; we have never asked for quarter, nor had quarter offered. We do what we do, and we have many different concerns. However negatively you may view us, know this, dear woman. We do not sleep soundly at night so that the majority of humanity may do so. We are human, and given to the occasional mistake. We are doing what we need to do to rectify this, and I am sorry that our methods have not met with your approval."

Giles simply could not believe what he was hearing. He'd known Quinton Travers for most of his adult life, and to hear these words from him was staggering. Defensiveness or not, Giles was hearing a senior member of the Watcher's Council, maybe the most powerful member in generations, admit to a fault, and seek some sort of forgiveness.

"Quinton, why have you decided to come to Sunnydale now to tell us this? Why not earlier, as soon as the Council changed its mindset?"

"Part of it was due to the tense nature of the relationships here in Sunnydale. Before I go into that, I'd like to tell you about a proposal that I am authorized to make on behalf of the Council."


	9. Chapter 9

Buffy tensed at this. She had the sinking feeling that she'd wind up under the thumb of the Council again, and here it came. As it turned out, though, she was mistaken.

"We want to serve the needs of the Slayer more directly than we've been in the past. We have heard that you, Miss Summers, have been accepted to university here in Sunnydale." Buffy nodded, and Travers went on. "Congratulations. It is our hope that you would allow us the privilege of providing for your education by completely covering the expense of your education. We would also provide you with a stipend, to make your life easier as you pursue your education and your calling."

For almost a minute, no one spoke. They'd all been stunned when Travers had apologized to them, but no one had expected this.

"Mr. Travers, I have to admit that I don't know what to say," Joyce said as she shook her head. "Buffy, what do you think?"

Buffy had been conflicted. The free ride and spending money would be nice, but she wondered about the strings that surely had to come with it. "What's the catch?"

Travers allowed himself a small grin. "The 'catch,' Miss Summers, is this: That you work as hard as you can in your studies and to continue to perform your duties as Slayer to the best of your abilities. We believe that we've enabled bad choices in the past, Miss Summers, and we intend to rectify that in any way we can."

"Well, I think I can arrange that." She turned to Willow, who was momentarily sidetracked from the Xander situation. "Wills, you alright?"

Willow looked at her friend. "Buffy, I'm so happy for you! Are you kidding? This is the only thing I could think of that could make me forget about what's going on now!" The two girls hugged, and Travers cleared his throat.

"I'm glad that I was able to bring some good news. However, I have something else to discuss, and I hope that I can help answer some questions."

All eyes were back on Travers, this time with a confused look from each pair.

"You see, it's about Faith."

Buffy and Willow stopped hugging, and were instantly at attention. "Go on."

"I'm afraid that things were not as they appeared when it came to Faith's status here in Sunnydale. For that matter, neither was Wesley Wyndham-Price the pillock he made himself out to be."

Giles' stomach sank as he began putting two and two together. He took his glasses off and began cleaning them. "Quinton, what are you saying? Was there some sort of ruse going on all this time?"

"What? I don't understand," Willow said as she looked back and forth between Giles and Travers.

"Yes, Rupert, both of them were undercover. Faith came to Sunnydale legitimately on the run from Kakistos. He had indeed killed her Watcher. Wesley is her Watcher's brother; in fact, he has assumed the role of surrogate parent, of sorts, since his sister obtained custody of Faith shortly after she was found to be a Slayer. Once you were terminated as Miss Summers' Watcher and I returned to England, Wesley and Faith approached the Council with a proposition to operate to Sunnydale. Further, they proposed the unique arrangement that you saw, which would allow for the reconnecting between you and Miss Summers, unifying and strengthening your collection of fighters."

"They both realized that they would not be able to interact with either of you, given how badly the Council damaged your trust and your relationship, so they decided to take a non-traditional approach. Faith stayed at a local hotel, a hotel purchased and inhabited by an associate of Wesley Wyndham-Price. The three maintained residence there, which gave them the ability to communicate through 'accidental' run-ins and dead drops, and exchange information as needed. Additionally, vampires could not enter the hotel itself, as it was a proper residence, without permission from its owner. Permission, mind you, that was never given."

Willow, who had never been a fan of Faith, spoke up. "But, but, but Faith's evil! Hello, she killed people!"

Travers expected to have to explain a bit, so he was not taken aback by this. "Did she, Miss Rosenberg? Do you know for a fact, that Alan Finch, deputy mayor of Sunnydale, was killed, or that the professor she killed was actually human? Alan Finch was an operative of the Watchers' Council, I sent him here, personally. He was extracted from his assignment the night he was 'killed' by Faith. He believed his cover was blown, and so Faith volunteered to take his place gathering intelligence. She, Wesley, and Wesley's associate, who's been here in Sunnydale for quite a while now, discussed the options, and the only viable option they decided could actually work would be a scenario where Faith would slip away from the core group and join the Mayor."

"She would have to completely be cut off, acting alone, save for Derek, Wesley's associate. He would act as an overseer of sorts, keeping an eye on things as needed. He was an unknown quantity, so he could roam freely, to an extent. It was he who supplied Faith with an auto-injector disguised as a stake. Faith had slipped this stake into her normal use. Passing stakes back and forth between the two Slayers was not uncommon and so she also had a second dose on her person, should she have been unable to obtain her stake. The sedative slowed Finch's heart rate, essentially slipping him into a coma for a time, but he was never dead."

"Further," he went on, "the professor Faith killed was a demon who had been amassing an army to partner with the Mayor during his ascension. Mr. James and Mr. Price dispatched the bulk of his army, but it was left to Faith to finish the demon. She convinced the Mayor that this demon saw him as competition, to the point that the Mayor sent Faith to eliminate him. In all, the effort secured Faith's place as a valued asset, and allowed her to get more detailed information from the Mayor."

Buffy began to see just how out of control the past year had been, but didn't want to verbally acknowledge it. In her heart, she knew she had failed to really reach out to Faith, but now she began to see that other people could determine what she herself could not. Namely, that the Scooby life was a dysfunctional one and the best thing to do was to simply circumvent them to get the job done. It hurt Buffy that they'd been lied to, but given the circumstances, she had to admit that maybe she couldn't blame them.

"We really screwed things up, didn't we, Mr. Travers?"

"Well, Miss Summers, I wouldn't go that far. However, no one suspected just how far you were willing to go to save the vampire, Angelus."

Willow was not as guilty as Buffy was, and made no effort to become so. "Wait a minute! Faith poisoned Angel, Buffy! Don't forget that! These guys weren't around for any help at all!"

Buffy hung her head and answered, running her fingers through her hair. "I haven't, Willow. But once I found out what the cure for the poison was, what was my first act? Was it to have you stand over Angel while he fed off of me? Was it to have blood drawn and kept in a packet? No, it was to go hunting for Faith. I got so caught up in bloodlust that I forgot to think."

Quinton looked to Willow. "Miss Rosenberg, do you think that the only fight related to the Mayor's ascension took place last night? Frankly, there were brushfires popping up all over Sunnydale; they were handled by Mr. Price and Mr. James. You were all too busy concerned with the vampire to bother looking around to see the chaos. No one was the wiser, but nonetheless, those two men did much of the heavy lifting in the events leading up to last night."

"On top of that, you are all indebted to Mr. James, to one degree or another. It was he, along with Faith as his spotter, who eliminated numerous threats from a sniper's nest in the watchtower on campus, retreating at the very last minute. Further, he augmented the explosives planted by Mr. Harris, to ensure that the Mayor was killed. I must admit, Mr. James knows his job. He operated in Sunnydale for over a year without being spotted or killed by either side."

No one spoke for a few moments. Finally, Willow broke the silence. "Guns? Guns don't work on vampires!"

Travers patiently spoke to the young woman. "Miss Rosenberg, the use of firearms has been discouraged by the Council in the past. To be fair, I do not believe that we will ever sanction their use over and above our Special Operations Groups. However, their potency under certain circumstances cannot be ignored. In the hands of someone skilled in marksmanship they can be, and indeed have been, utilized against many of the supernatural enemies we face. Bullets often impact with results similar to a decapitation. Similarly, one can temporarily incapacitate a supernatural target, allowing for someone closer to dispatch the target appropriately."

Giles thought about these things for a moment. He had to acknowledge that the plan Wesley and Faith, along with this mysterious third party, executed stung his pride, but he also had to admit that it was brilliant, to an extent. They showed boldness and audacity to implement and execute a plan, and in the end, it had worked. The Scoobies had drawn together and the Mayor had been vanquished. However, now that the crisis was over, he could see that there were obvious problems with the relational patterns within his group, and that the ruse, while genius, had its unintended consequences.

"Quinton, why would Wesley and Faith use a lethal poison on Angel, given that they were not evil?"

Travers frowned as he began to answer. "Actually, Rupert, they did not use a lethal poison."


	10. Chapter 10

Willow was nearly apoplectic. "What? I did the research myself! The only antidote for Killer of the Dead is the blood of a Slayer!"

Travers frowned again as he slowly, calmly answered Willow's outburst. "Yes, Miss Rosenberg, the only antidote for Killer of the Dead is, in fact, the blood of a Slayer. However, remember that we have an exhaustive database of poisons and antidotes. Killer of the Dead is a substance that is so tightly controlled, there are only three locations for any of the ingredients, and the Council has teams living on each site, in constant contact with one another, so that no one can be ambushed by a group wanting to assemble the ingredients to put the poison in play. Now, Miss Rosenberg, have you heard of a substance called '_custos mortuorum_?'"

Willow shook her head. "I don't know what that is," she said defiantly.

"I'm not surprised. It means…"

"Keeper of the Dead," Giles interrupted. "It is, in essence, a vampiric biological weapon. It is similar to anthrax's effects on humans, only obviously, affects vampires. It was always used as a temporary immobilizer, since its affects would wear off after 48 to 72 hours. That is to say, if one wanted to immobilize, not simply kill, a vampire."

Giles lowered his head. He saw where this might be headed. "Of course, the blood of a Slayer would have jump-started a vampire's system, given the supernatural nature of the Slayer."

He mentally kicked himself. He'd been so focused on other things, he did not bother to try to verify the symptoms Angel had experienced, to make sure that Willow's research was correct. He wondered if, perhaps subconsciously, he wanted to believe that Angel might be put out of the picture, permanently. Travers, however, would not let him beat himself up.

"Rupert, stop what you're thinking. I've considered that your issues with Angel could have biased you, but I don't believe that is the case. More accurately, I think that there is enough culpability to go around."

Buffy began to get defensive. "Look, I know things got messed up, but what do you mean?"

"Miss Summers, I believe that as things spiraled out of control, certain things were revealed. Weaknesses, if you will. It is my opinion that, given the secretive nature of what we do, we inherently sabotage our trust of others, and their trust of us. Personality quirks that would not be an issue suddenly contribute to how we define ourselves."

At this point, he turned to face Willow. "Miss Rosenberg, into how much depth did you go to research the poison affecting Angel?"

Willow thought back to the research she did to help Buffy. It always came so easy to her that she didn't stop to think that she could be wrong.

"Well, I looked in Giles' books, and found what I found."

Travers nodded, and continued. "How did you verify that Killer of the Dead was the poison in question?"

Willow did not speak for a while, and Travers filled the silence. "Please hear this in the spirit in which this is intended. I do not think that you took the time to consult anyone who could have confirmed or disproven that Killer of the Dead was involved. I believe this happened for a number of reasons. First, I think the crisis of the looming ascension led to carelessness. Second, the ease with which research comes to you led you to be overconfident, and to not bother with checking with Rupert, who has years of research training and experience. Third, and possibly the most damaging, was the fact that your jealousy towards Faith led you to be overprotective, judgmental, and petty."

Fearing that he'd be interrupted, Travers went on. "Miss Rosenberg, these things were not ultimately catastrophic. I do not believe that you are a danger to innocent lives. It is not the opinion of the Council that these were malevolent actions in the slightest. But the fact remains that issues that could have been resolved led to potentially fatal errors in judgment. It is, sadly, in part due to how we as the Council has acted that the pattern of secrecy and emotional immaturity has been perpetuated."

"Could you repeat that for our English-speaking audience?" Buffy quipped. She didn't like the sound of what Travers was saying, but she wanted to understand it before popping off.

"Yes. There has been too much 'drama,' as you Americans put it. Your personal issues have been ignored and overlooked, and as a result, these past few months have led to major problems for you all. The Council has been a part of this, and we want to help fix the mess we helped cause."

"Quinton, does the entire Council feel this way? This is a major shift from the Council I remember."

"To be blunt, Rupert, no, the Council was not unanimous. I currently am able to hold a majority, but, on top of a few vocal opponents who simply spoke their piece for the record, and have been fuming ever since. In some ways, I am having to call in some rather serious markers to keep some of the more... antagonistic members of my coalition on board. To say it is a very tense situation for us right now would be an understatement. On top of that, several factions which are currently amongst my supporters came onboard with no prodding on my part, despite somewhat antagonistic views we have clashed on previously. Their motivations are, I fear, not the same as mine, which may have ramifications down the road."

"Regardless, they are our concern; your focus needs to be on healing the emotional damage the past few years have caused, while working together with Wesley, Faith, and Derek, when they return to the Hellmouth."

This last comment was met with shock from Buffy and Willow. "They're coming back? How are we going to deal with that? I mean, I nearly killed Faith! She'll want to return the favor."

"Miss Summers, I cannot speak for Faith, nor would I want to put words in her mouth. I think, though, that you might find that by simply confronting a problem openly and honestly, you will wind up better off, even if it seems slow going. I do know for a fact that Faith will not require reciprocity, or payback, as you would know it. Mr. James has been a valuable resource for both Wesley and Faith, and I suspect he could be an asset to you all, if you can all get together to work to a common goal."

Willow thought as Buffy and Travers spoke. She had, it appeared, been grossly arrogant in how she handled Angel's poisoning. Travers had been more correct than she wanted to admit. However, something popped into her mind, and she spoke before she could stop herself.

"Xander! Do you know anything about Xander? Did he go with Faith and Wesley?" She forgot the third member of the group, but he would have been in the party as well.

Travers nodded. "It is my understanding that Faith met with Mr. Harris late last night, along with Wesley, and laid out the truth of the entire operation. She and Wesley asked Mr. Harris to accompany them out of town for a time, along with Mr. James, and Mr. Harris agreed. I believe Mr. Harris had a trip planned anyway; he simply changed his destination, and his traveling companions."

Willow flinched as she realized what Travers had said. Faith had trusted Xander enough to tell him the truth, and he, in turn, had decided to leave town with her. She knew her friend had been enamored with Faith, and that he had tried to reach out to her when she was "turning bad," but she had no idea he'd be willing to leave Sunnydale, leave her, to be with Faith. Faith, of all people.

As she was thinking, Buffy saw her face begin to change. "Wills, remember that the Faith that we knew isn't real. We don't know who the real Faith is.".

Joyce Summers had been quiet for a long time. She had a rough idea of what had gone on with Faith and how Buffy's attitude had descended into a place she'd rather not see it. Now, having heard that the whole thing had been a ruse, she was more than a little upset.

"Mr. Travers, I'm blown away by all of this. My daughter, not to mention Rupert and these other kids, KIDS, mind you, has been involved in this 'war' for three years! You at the Council are adults! I just can't believe the things my girl has had to face, nearly alone! It's bad enough that I've been in the dark, and I feel awful that I've made Buffy had to choose between her love for me and her call to save the world! I just don't know what else to say! Is it any wonder that these kids are having problems, if the adults in their lives act like they don't care?"

Quinton Travers, to his credit, did not try to explain anything away. "Mrs. Summers, it is no surprise that these problems are in our face now. In the past, the Council would have swept in and acted heavy handedly. That, I see now, is part of the problem. I've made my apology, and I don't intend to act as though just apologizing fixes things. We at the Council do want to help, and we will work to that end. You are right to be upset, and you are right to be upset with us."

It was as simple as that, Rupert thought. So many people have been hurt because of needless secrecy and petty power plays. It was remarkable, in its own way, to see this proud man show humility in the face of these women. Things might not be right for a while, but it was, in Giles' estimation, a good first step.

Willow was still unconvinced. "So Faith, Wesley, Xander, and this other guy are coming back to the Hellmouth. What about us?"

"What about you, Miss Rosenberg? Have you decided to stop fighting?"

"No," Willow said with a touch of defiance.

"Good. I can't answer for them, but I do know that they have expressed a desire to sit down and talk with all of you, to find out how you all can coexist in Sunnydale." He smiled a wry smile. "Surely there is enough evil in this town for everyone."

This brought out a little smile from Willow, and laughter from the others. It served to lighten the mood just enough to put everyone's minds at ease.

"I think that I've given you enough to consider for a while. I must be going. Mrs. Summers, thank you for the tea and the honesty. Miss Summers, you will be receiving a package from the Council with all of the pertinent details of our new arrangement. I assume, of course, that you'll at least consider our offer?"

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Travers." Buffy wasn't entirely trusting of the Head Watcher, but she'd have to start somewhere. The Faith situation, however, might take a little bit of time. She was still pretty upset about Faith, and now confusion was added to the mix, and Buffy just didn't know how to handle the whole thing. When you added Willow's overall attitude, coupled with her hatred of Faith, Buffy was beginning to see that there were real problems in her life with which she had to deal.

"Excellent. Rupert, it hasn't always been a pleasure, but it is one on this day."

Giles smiled as he stood, walking Travers to the door. "I feel the same way, Quinton. Thank you for taking the time to come and talk, face to face."

"It is the least I could do, given our past. Rupert," Travers leaned close as he was walking out of the door, "you have good people here. We didn't always see that, but we do now. Please let us know how we can help you, as a Watcher, and as a fellow traveller down this path."

Giles was taken aback. "W-Watcher? I'm to be reinstated?"

Travers stopped, and turned back to address the group. "Ladies, one more word, if I may. I nearly forgot this point, but the Council has reinstated Rupert as Miss Summers' Watcher, with pay retroactive to the point at which he was terminated. Thank you for your time, and good hunting."

With a curt nod, Travers walked to his rental car, got in, and left. It was as simple as that.

Rupert Giles went back inside, and sat at the table with the three women who had, as he had, been blown away by the last hour.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note:**_This is a brief chapter because how I originally wrote this work is different than how I'm currently formatting it for this site. I'll get back to posting longer chapters post haste. :)

After a few moments of silence, Willow had to unload. "Faith seems to be the big hero! It was us who beat the Mayor and stopped the Ascension, right? And "Head Tweed Guy" didn't even say thanks, or even worry about what happened to Xander! Buffy, do you really believe what he said about Faith and Wesley? That they were undercover agents this whole time, like something out of a movie?"

Buffy stopped and thought for a moment. "You know, Wil, I don't know. So much has happened in the last year, I just don't know what to think anymore. Part of me believes that it was all like a spy novel, but I just don't know. Between Faith, then Angel coming back from Hell only to leave, the Mayor, and now this revelation, I'm back to saying, 'Tree pretty.' Maybe things'll be OK when they come back."

Willow was not convinced, and shifted gears away from the Faith situation. "Giles, what are we gonna do about Xander? He just took off!"

"Willow, I know you're upset, but you must understand, Xander is his own man, albeit a very young and poorly dressed one. He will make his own choices. It's my personal opinion that we've tried to live Xander's life for him far too much. He might not be the best fighter, but he cares for his friends, and he wants to do the right things in life. It was wrong to push him away, and we will only make it worse if we don't respect his decisions, regardless of whether we agree with them or not."

Willow decided that Giles just didn't understand, so she kept her mouth shut. She glanced over at Buffy, who gave her a look that told her that the Slayer was just as frustrated as she was. They'd talk about it later, no doubt, and then figure out how to reach Xander and help him see Faith for who she was.


	12. Chapter 12

The drive out of Sunnydale was a relatively quiet one. Xander parked his uncle's car at a storage facility that had an indoor area for cars, so Rory's car wouldn't get damaged. Hopping into the RV, Xander grabbed a seat next to Faith, behind Wesley, who was riding in the passenger seat. Derek was driving, and turned to Xander.

"All set? Alright, let's get going. There are sandwiches and water in the fridge back there."

Faith smiled and kidded Derek. "Gee, thanks, mom."

Derek rolled his eyes and grinned. "Nice."

Xander took in the exchange between Faith and Derek. It was obvious that the two got along, and from what he knew from last night, all three of the people he was riding with were close. He smiled a bittersweet smile. This was the type of relationship he had craved his entire life. It meant a great deal to him that these people thought so much of him, that Faith had reciprocated his feelings, regardless of the crazy circumstances of life on the Hellmouth.

"So Wes, I gotta ask. You played that stuffy British guy role perfectly. How much of that was an act?"

Derek laughed out loud. "None. He's really that uptight."

Wesley muttered something in French to Derek, obviously familiar with the long-standing joke between the two men. "Xander, pay no mind to Derek and his musings. However, his joke isn't too far off, sadly. Prior to my joining the Legion, I was trained at the Watcher Academy. It was during a rebellious period after graduation that I decided to do the most un-Watcherly thing I could think to do, and that brought me to the Legion. From that point, my eyes were opened to the fact that while there was good to the Watcher's lineage, they were not the only ones in this fight of which we are a part."

Derek broke in. "You know, Xander, I have to be honest. As much crap as I give Wes about his background, it's always amazed me that he could fit into the Legion after coming from that past. One thing about the Legion is that you're in close quarters with some pretty colorful people, and any sense of entitlement or superiority could get you knifed in your sleep. When you think about it, it probably equipped him to operate undercover here in Sunnydale."

Xander nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It couldn't have been easy, to pull that off for as long as you did."

Wes nodded. "Honestly, on more than one occasion I felt myself coming out of character. Fortunately, no one in your group paid me much mind, so I was able to maintain the ruse. The hardest part about it all was that to properly pull off a plan like we did, you have to amplify certain legitimate personality traits, to balance your cover and your real self. It's the only way the cover will be useful."

"Take Faith, for instance." He turned to look at the dark-haired Slayer. "Much of what you saw of her cover is the real Faith, only played up to a large degree. That way, she isn't playing a character who is totally unlike herself, but merely taking some things to an extreme degree."

"Wes' right, Xander," Derek added. "Faith's really a spaz, so for her to be jacked up and excitable isn't all that hard!" He laughed at his own joke as Faith tossed a bottle cap at him.

The four travelers sat quietly for a while as Derek drove them northward to Idaho. Xander, for his part, couldn't help but wonder how the rest of the Scoobies took Travers coming in and dropping the bomb on them. It was his hope that they could all get along and put the things of the past to bed and be done with them, but he didn't think Buffy or Willow would be able to do that quickly. Maybe by the end of summer they'd be ready to move on.

Xander turned to Derek and asked a far more delicate question than he realized at the time. "So, Derek, what's your story? How'd you get into this whole shooting match?"

Derek got quiet for a while, as if he was considering how to answer. "Well, Xander, I certainly wasn't born into the fight, like Wes or Faith. A long time ago, I was the pastor of a little country church. On the way home from church one Sunday, my wife and daughter were in the car in front of me. A driver coming the other way crossed over the centerline and into our lane. They hit head on, and both my wife and daughter were killed."

He paused and took a deep breath. "It turns out that the guy who had hit them was a member of my church. He was a young guy, and he had been at a party the night before, but after sleeping it off, he thought he was sober enough to drive. This is after noon the next day, mind you. While I held my wife and daughter's dead bodies in my arms, he came over and saw us. Once he saw who it was that was in the accident, he freaked out. He swiped a cop's service weapon and looked me in the eye, apologized, and shot himself."

Xander was stunned. "Derek, I didn't mean to…"

"Xander, don't worry about it. It's been enough time that I don't mind discussing it. Anyway, this was a Sunday. I buried my church member on Wednesday, my family on Thursday, and stepped out of my pulpit on Friday. My church gave me a generous severance package, so with that and the life insurance, plus a settlement from the other guy's insurance, I didn't have to try to work for a while. After taking some time, and praying about what I should do, I sold my home, invested my money, and joined the Legion. It seemed to be a good way to get away from the intense emotions of my home. I met Wes during our training at Castelnaudary, and we managed to get shipped out to the 4th company of the 2nd REP together, out on the island of Corsica. I learned about what goes bump in the night while I was in Corsica, which is a story I'll tell another time. My CO partnered me with Wes to work together and from there we deployed all over, just like Wes told you earlier."

Wes spoke up. "Xander, Derek and I have had the opportunity to work in small units and also to work solo, at times. We've had to trust our instincts and the instincts of other people, so we've been through the wringer together, and it is precisely that that has given us our opinions regarding small-unit morale. Trust is something that has to be earned, but once it is, it is more of an asset than any weapon we have at our disposal. This past year has pushed us to the limit, and we need to get away for a while to reconnect with each other, to heal, and to strengthen our connections. We want you to be a part of that, not only because we see you as a potential ally, but also because we think that you need to be a part of something, namely a family."

Faith, who had been quiet up until this point, finally spoke. "Xander, it's weird. Every part of me has wanted, at some point, to run off and be alone. But it would have meant leaving my family hanging out to dry. Diana taught me that you don't abandon your family, and I don't intend to forget that lesson. You've learned that lesson, but haven't had a place to put it to use. You have that now, Xan."

The more he heard about this group of fighters, the more Xander saw that it was, in fact, something he needed. He needed to be a part of a group of people who obviously cared about each other. They may have had their issues in the past, but it was clear that this group worked on them, rather than buried them and lied about things.


	13. Chapter 13

The news that Derek had been a Christian minister, a sort of person with whom neither he or the rest of the Scoobies had had any experience, was a bit of a shock to Xander. He paused for a little while, gathering his thoughts, as if he wanted to choose his next questions carefully.

Finally, after thinking over how he wanted to ask his follow up questions Xander spoke up.

"So you're a pastor? How do you justify being a soldier? What about, 'Thou shalt not kill?'"

"Well, Xander, not to get into a linguistic debate, but in the Hebrew, the commandment is, 'You shall not murder,' which is the wrongful killing of innocents. But at its core, the command to not wrongfully take life means we ought to take every step to protect innocent life, so that's why I can do what I do. I won't make this a big religious crusade, because I don't see it that way, but I do see my call to protect innocent life as an extension of my ordination vows.

Wes and Faith don't believe the same things I do, but that doesn't mean we aren't fellow travelers, if you will. We have our discussions about things, and we each know what the other believes. We respect our differences, and often times it's those differences that had helped us. For example, I know certain things as part of my training and skill set that differ from Wes' and Faith's, and vise versa. Between the three of us, a lot of times we brainstorm unique and interesting solutions. With the three of us in the mix, and hopefully you, too, we have more brains in the battle, which ultimately means more guns in the fight. Plus, there are some things we've found out about having ordained clergy in the fight."

With that, Derek began to chuckle, and Wes and Faith smiled, as well. Xander didn't know what to make of it, but he soon found out.

Faith picked up the conversation. "Xan, we never realized it before, but vampires and demons get really antsy around ministers. They may not really know what it is that's freakin' 'em out, but they get really uncomfortable around Derek, and sometimes they can't stay hidden, and vamp out or reveal themselves. It's pretty wicked to be standing in line to get a meal, or sitting in a restaurant, and then, BAM, all of a sudden you've got a demon to handle or a vamp to stake. We haven't tested it or anything, but we found it out the old-fashioned way, in the heat of the moment."

Derek laughed. "We figure it has something to do with the ordination vows themselves, but we aren't positive. It's not really something they cover in seminary, you know?" He glanced back at Faith. "Yeah, remember that vamp who was sitting in that Subway and wigged out? I spit my soda all over him! Honestly, I couldn't stop laughing while we scrambled! It caught me completely off-guard, and I'm glad Wes was there to handle him, otherwise I'd have been in trouble!"

Faith laughed, too, and Xander couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Derek and a vampire rolling around on the floor. Xander sat back and considered all that he had heard. Derek was clearly a man who'd been through some things, but had managed to come through it relatively unscathed. He hadn't had good experiences with people who claimed to be Christians, but Derek seemed like an interesting kind of guy, and he didn't strike Xander as the kind of person that he'd seen before. Plus, Faith and Wes seemed to trust and respect him, so maybe Xander should begin to change his life, and set it in his mind to trust Derek, too.

"I don't know how the Scoobies will take having a preacher around, especially Giles and Willow, with the magic, and all."

Derek smiled. "Well, I've been around more dangerous people than a couple of ticked off magicians. Heck, the fact that I got through boot camp in Castel is evidence of that. They won't bother me. We don't believe the same things, but I can still respect the people who are in the fight. I hope they feel the same way, but we'll see once the summer ends. If not, life's boring without a little conflict, right?"

The four warriors lapsed into a peaceful silence, letting their respective thoughts wander. The miles rolled on, and as they slowly moved to their destination in Idaho, each person in the RV looked forward to a calm time, where they could focus on taking a break and building their relationships.


	14. Chapter 14

Rupert Giles was tired. Ever since his father told him of his calling at ten years old, Rupert Giles had been fighting the fight, and while although at times he seemed far from the front lines, the front lines were never far from him. Whether it was dropping out of Oxford or calling on Eyghon, Giles always seemed to find himself in a position where he had to make a choice between the pleasures of ignorance and his calling. His calling always won out, and he understood, now more than ever, that he had always been living out his calling, even when things seemed chaotic. Ah, to be a green grocer, Giles thought to himself.

He sat comfortably in a corner booth at the Espresso Pump, back to the wall as usual, enjoying the afternoon sun. Sipping his tea, he considered the revelation that Quinton Travers had given him at the Summers' home. While being reinstated was wonderful, and certainly it could only be a good thing for Buffy's family to have her schooling paid for by the Council, what concerned Giles the most was the potential for conflict when Faith, Wesley, Xander, and this Derek fellow, returned to Sunnydale.

"I dare say that we could have some problems," Giles said under his breath as he sipped his tea.

"Threatening your tea, Rupert?"

Giles looked up to see Joyce Summers standing in front of him, smiling. "May I join you, or is this a bad time?"

Giles smiled and said, "Please, do join me. I was just thinking out loud. I apologize, but I forgot where I was. That was a tad embarrassing." Giles grinned and blushed a bit.

"No problem, Rupert. I enjoy coming here from time to time. There's a nice ambiance; it feels cozy and safe."

Rupert smiled and nodded. "Indeed. It is one of the few places that I enjoy patronizing. There's even an open mic night from time to time. What brings you here this afternoon?"

Joyce smiled as she sipped her coffee, a much fancier drink than Giles' drink of choice. "Well, the girls needed some time alone, and honestly, I needed to think about what just happened. Rupert, what do you think about all of this? I mean, I'm just now getting used to my daughter having supernatural powers and this higher purpose, so it's all a bit overwhelming."

Giles could certainly understand. The librarian in him took over, and he began to polish his glasses. "I told Buffy this once, and it bears repeating. My father told me of my destiny when I was ten. All of my plans, my dreams, fell by the wayside once I learned of my path. It helped Buffy, a bit, I think, to understand that she was not alone in dealing with the burden we bear. It gives her a sense of context, and a person with whom she can relate. I suspect that the reason the Slayer/Watcher bond is so strong is, in part, due to this connection.

However, you have a different bond with Buffy, and while that has been altered slightly, it is as strong, if not stronger, than the bond I share with her. Rely on that to guide your relationship; you'll find that it will help you tremendously."

The eldest Summers woman nodded slowly and swallowed her coffee. "You know, Rupert, I couldn't have possibly imagined that Buffy was, essentially, a superhero. We just didn't connect, and I chalked it up to her being a teenager. Ha! If only it was that simple. There's no handbook for the Slayer's mom, is there?"

Giles smiled warmly. "No, I'm afraid not. Buffy hasn't even read the handbook for being a Slayer. However, Joyce, it seems that we have an opportunity to help Buffy and the others through this. Quinton was right; so many of the problems we have are because of the secrecy and lack of trust. Well, all of the cards are out on the table, so to speak. You and I are in a position to assist in the maturation of these young men and women, as are Wesley and his friend, Derek. If we can get together and overcome these problems through conversation and not isolation, then perhaps our efforts on the Hellmouth will be more successful, and of a far less costly nature."

Joyce agreed. "I think you make a good point, Rupert. I didn't really like how everyone treated Faith, and while I know that it was an undercover thing, I never approved of how Buffy went crazy and hurt Faith, either by kicking her out of the group or by trying to kill her. That wasn't a Buffy I had ever seen before, and I am glad that Angel is gone; that was a big problem for me, and I'm glad he listened to me."

Giles looked surprised. "You spoke to Angel about leaving?"

"Yes. I told him that Buffy needed someone who could give her as normal a life as possible. I know there were a lot of things out of Angel's control, but not that one, and he made the right choice to leave. It'll hurt Buffy, for now, but I think in the long run, she'll be better off."

Giles was impressed, both by Joyce and by Angel, and said as much to Joyce. "Joyce, I must say that you made the right choice to discuss this with Angel. I was not in a position, given our pasts, to talk to him about Buffy, but I am glad that you did. Further, I am surprised, pleasantly I might add, that Angel made the decision he did. I agree with you that in the long run, Buffy will be better off. My biggest concern, at this point, is how all of us will interact once Wesley and the others reappear in Sunnydale."

There was a long pause as Joyce considered her words. "Rupert, I feel bad about saying this, but I know that you may understand better than Buffy. I'm concerned about Willow. She seems to be a little more self-centered than she ought to be when it comes to the things in her world. I know that every young woman is a bit selfish, God knows that I was, but at the same time, I have noticed that Willow seems to want to have her way of doing things as the only way."

Rupert understood exactly what Joyce was saying. "Joyce, I know what you mean. When Willow and Xander first began to help Buffy and me in our fight, I was not happy about it. Over time, the two proved to be quite helpful, but I did not have the time or the resources to train them as much as I would have liked. A result of this was that Willow and Xander were left on their own. I think that Quinton's assessment of Willow is accurate; she is very smart, and has been left on her own for so long that she has become overconfident in her abilities and intellect. It will be difficult for her to shift gears and revise her opinion of Wesley and Faith. Her jealousy where Faith is concerned is of note; she is highly possessive of Xander, so much of our efforts may be in helping Willow grow up. I had hoped that her reconciliation with Oz would have tempered her pettiness; I was mistaken, and I fear that she might regress a bit, given the unique circumstances surrounding her world, of late."

"I know Buffy, and I've seen the frustration on her face when Willow goes a little overboard. Buffy has her own issues to deal with, and I hope that she doesn't have to spend too much of her emotional energy dealing with Willow. If only that girl's parents cared. Good grief!"

Giles was sympathetic to Joyce's irritation. He never quite understood how Willow's parents, who seemed to be nice people, could seemingly abandon their daughter. Perhaps they relied on her intellect as an excuse to pursue their own interests, but whatever the case, Willow's problems would have to be handled if anyone wanted to move forward.


	15. Chapter 15

Buffy and Willow sat in the living room, halfway watching a movie. Buffy could practically see Willow's mind working as she tried to follow the movie's plot. Finally, when Buffy could take no more, she turned to the redhead and asked, "Wills, what'cha thinkin'?"

Willow seemed to explode, and in one long sentence, cut loose. "Buffy, I just don't get it! Why didn't anyone tell us what was going on? Who do they think they are, keeping secrets from us? You're the Slayer, Buffy! Shouldn't they try to, oh I don't know, help you slay?! What a bunch of jerks! We're all on the same team, right? I can't believe that Wesley and Faith lied to us! Like we're a bunch of fools or something! Now we've lost Xander! Who knows if he's going to come back to us or not! I can't believe it!"

Buffy had ridden this storm out before. She sat patiently while Hurricane Willow blew through the room, and once she saw that Willow had finished her tirade, Buffy spoke. "Wills, I don't disagree with you, on some of the stuff, anyway. Listen, the whole "Faith's evil" thing actually worked. We won, right? The good guys beat the bad guys. I don't like how it happened, just like you, but the fact is that it did work. And as far as Xander goes, we'll figure that out when he gets back."

Buffy lowered her head and continued. "Wills, I'm actually worried about all of us. Things got so crazy at the end there that I came close to killing Faith, actually wanted to kill her. That's not cool, y'know? I'm supposed to keep people safe, not kill them. I got so caught up in my own life that I was blind to everything around me. I lied to all of you, and now I've lost the guy I love, after I got him back from hell, where I actually sent him. God, Will! Don't you see how crazed it all was? How irrational we got? I'm actually grateful that Wes and Faith were undercover. We have a second chance. I don't know what we'll do about Xander, but maybe we need some time away from each other to sort it all out."

Willow could not believe what she was hearing. "Buffy, the Watcher's Council kept things from you that could have helped you do your job! Hello! Aren't they supposed to help the Slayer? As far as I'm concerned, what happened here is as much their fault as ours!"

"I don't know, Will. I mean sure, the Council is pretty messed up, but Travers came and actually apologized. They're even paying for school! If they can change, shouldn't we think about it?"

Willow sat quietly for a while. Buffy just didn't understand what she was saying. She'd have to talk to Oz about this; if only he hadn't left to tour with Dingoes. He said he'd call in a few days, and she'd be sure to let Oz know what was going on. He'd be able to help her talk to Buffy about it.

Buffy went back to watching the movie, disappointed in how Willow handled the conversation. She'd hoped that her redheaded friend would realize that who was to blame wasn't the point, but rather how they had gotten so out of control. She was as skeptical as Willow about the Council and the whole Wes/Faith thing, but she just couldn't handle any more lies. It was hard enough dealing with Angel deciding to walk away and leave her. This whole thing was nearly too much for her to take, and the last thing she needed was yet another of her trusted friends having a problem with this.

**—**

Angel drove away from Sunnydale with his mind on other things. The fight against the Mayor was pretty rough; not as rough as some of the things Angel had faced, but not the easiest, either. The more that Angel thought about the events of the previous evening, there were a few things that just didn't sit right with him.

For starters, that explosion seemed too big for the amount of C-4 that Xander liberated from the Army base. However, Angel had to admit that since he didn't have a deep amount of knowledge of such things, he couldn't discuss it with anyone.

But that wasn't the only thing that didn't add up. He could have sworn that he heard gunshots during the battle, and you didn't need to be a genius to know what gunshots were. On top of that, and this was something that drove him crazier than the other things, was that he knew he smelled Faith's presence at the school.

Not wanting to linger after making it clear to Buffy that he simply had to leave, Angel could not take the time to look into his reservations. As much as it hurt him to do it, he had to admit that Joyce Summers was right. Angel could not provide Buffy with what she needed the most, which was a chance at a normal life.

While Angel wasn't quite sure what his plans were, he knew that leaving Sunnydale, with all of its good and bad memories, was necessary. L.A. seemed like a good place to set up shop, and Angel was already planning what his priorities would be once he got into the city.

The buzzing of his newly acquired cell phone interrupted Angel's thoughts. Damn, he thought I can't stand this thing already. He fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello?"

It was one of Angel's contacts at Sunnydale Hospital. During his stay on the Hellmouth, Angel had looked for ways to feed without hunting, and building this relationship was profitable for both parties.

"Yeah, Angel, I just thought you'd want to know this. That girl, Faith, the one you wanted me to keep an eye on? She's gone."

Angel was surprised, but quickly moved on. "What? When did she leave?" He was beginning to put a timeline together in his mind.

"Uh, I guess a few hours after you and the Mayor had your little fight. I'm sorry I didn't get in touch sooner, but with everything happening at the school, we were swamped for a while."

"Yeah, no problem. Listen, did she leave with anyone?"

There was a pause. "Now that you mention it, there was a guy. Normal looking, about six feet tall or so, buzz-cut. Regular clothes, nothing that would stick out."

"Thanks for the info. I'll make it worth your while." Angel made no mention of leaving town, but he would find a way to get him some cash.

"No problem, Angel. Thanks. Later."

As Angel hung up, he pulled his car over to the side of the road to think. At least his sense of smell wasn't failing him. That had been Faith's scent he caught at the high school. But what about the other two things, and who was the mystery person? It couldn't have been Wesley, but maybe someone on the Council?

The more Angel thought about the last few weeks, and especially given the recent newsflash, the more he realized that he had unfinished business in Sunnydale. He slowly turned the car back around, already considering what he'd tell Mrs. Summers about his abrupt return.


	16. Chapter 16

About the same time that Angel was receiving his phone call, four men sat in a hotel room in Sunnydale, getting the same information, albeit from a different source.

"James, that backdoor into the hospital records paid off," a man said as he returned from the bathroom to find a beeping laptop computer. He sat next to his three roommates and began to read.

"It seems as though our rogue has broken free once again," the man said as he noted the alert in the hospital's security system.

"Well, Thomas, she is a Slayer, regardless of her choices. It would stand to reason that she could escape a simple hospital room," James noted sarcastically.

"Indeed, but she wasn't supposed to wake from her coma, remember?" The third man in the room turned to the fourth and gave an order. "You'd better call headquarters to give an update and get any new commands."

The fourth man nodded and began to dial a familiar number on his cell phone. Thomas spoke as the other man dialed.

"Anthony, don't you think we should find out more before Denny checks in?"

"No, regardless of the details, the rogue Slayer is on the move, which means we need to be on the move. Wesley will have to take a backseat; we can deal with him any time we'd like. Faith is the more deadly adversary, and she is the one the Council will want back."

James nodded and continued to scan for more details. "It seems as though she was aided by someone, but there isn't a clear description of who the person could have been."

Anthony thought for a moment, and answered. "Well, it wouldn't be too surprising for Pryce to have decided to help the Slayer. He's a useless ponce and a traitor, but he's still a Watcher, and they've always been known to be loyal to their Slayers. If he's still around when we find Faith, well that'll just be a bonus."

Denny spoke, breaking the interaction. "Weatherman. Blacktop. Yes, this is Team 23, checking in with new information. It seems that the rogue Slayer and an unknown person escaped from Sunnydale Hospital. Advise new mission parameters. Yes, I'll wait."

The thirty seconds passed slowly, but soon Denny had his orders. "What? Repeat your last." He looked at his three teammates and repeated what he was hearing. "We are to stand down. Those are orders from Travers himself. All operations directed towards the Slayer Faith and her Watcher, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce are to cease immediately. Understood." Denny hung up and paused to look at the phone.

"I don't know about you, gentlemen, but I need more information than that," James said as he closed his computer. "We go from a snatch and grab to cease and desist, just like that? Something's off, I'll tell you."

Anthony thought for a moment, and agreed. "I think I'll make a call to another Council member, see about what's happening back in England." Anthony took the secure phone from Denny and walked into the bathroom for a modicum of privacy.

Fifteen minutes went by. Anthony finally came out of the bathroom and began to explain what he had heard. "That was my man on the Council. It appears, gentlemen, that we've been led down the primrose path by the head of the Council himself. The Slayer and Pryce, along with some Yank, have been working undercover here the whole time. Seems that Travers knew all along, but played the game to make it look like the two were rogue."

The three members of the Watcher's Council Special Operations Group were stunned. "What if we'd got to 'em before this got sorted out? Did Travers think about what might've happened?"

"Yep. Seems he was pretty confident we wouldn't get to them before their work was done. It gets better; the Council's not going to use the Cruciamentum anymore."

At this, all three members spoke at once. Denny was the loudest. "What? They've lost it! What was the reason?"

Anthony smirked. "Well, Travers says that since he saw what kind of damage it can do to the Slayer/Watcher relationship, he decided that it shouldn't be used. He was able to cobble together enough support to make the change, even though there's still a good number of Council members who want to use it."

Thomas finally got a word in. "Well, where does that leave us? What did your man say that we should do? Do we stick to the plan or not?"

Anthony thought long about how he would say this. "Well, we have a choice, lads. We could listen to the head of the Council, leave, and return to England for a new assignment. However, my contact on the Council thinks that it might be a good use of our time to keep looking for the Slayer and Pryce, and now this Yank, whoever he is."

"And if we find them?"

Anthony grinned a death's head grin. "Well, death happens on the Hellmouth, and after all, there's more than one Slayer now, right?"


	17. Chapter 17

The trip up to Idaho was uneventful, for the most part. There was the usual banter about radio stations and where they'd stop for food, but by and large, the four travelers simply relaxed as the miles ticked by.

"Wes, hand me my phone. I have to call Wendell and let him know we're about an hour away." Derek spoke from behind the wheel.

Wesley handed his friend the phone. "Why does Wendell need to know we were arriving?"

"I told him he could use my place if he needed it, since I knew I'd be gone for a while. Some of his family hit a rough patch, and he was letting them stay with him, but his house isn't big enough, so I told him to use mine. Before we left Sunnydale, I called him, and he said he'd have the place ready for us. I just want to give him a heads up about when we'll get there."

As Derek talked to his friend, Xander leaned forward to talk to Wesley. "What's Idaho like? How many times have you been up here?"

Wes looked back at Xander. "Well, I've only been here a couple of times. We've used Derek's land to test weapons and tactics, and also to relax and lay low, depending on some of our more sensitive assignments. He has a decent relationship with the residents there. He helped them with a werewolf problem many years ago, so he's earned a kind smile and a meal or two because of it."

Faith broke in. "Yeah, but he pissed off the local Aryan Nations guys, so we need to remember that. I guess they don't take kindly to being made fun of and beaten up in public."

Xander smiled. "What happened?"

"Well, Derek hasn't gone into too many details, but he was eating dinner in one of the local restaurants when some of those meatheads came in, running their mouths and acting like asses. All I know from Derek is that he had to pay for some damages to the diner, and for about a month or so, he'd get crank calls and stupid crap like that."

Wesley added some details. "Derek once told me that the whole mess came to an end when he showed up during one of their large group gatherings. At the height of their bonfire, Derek simply walked up to the leader and handed him a large envelope, turned his back, and walked away. Derek never told me what was inside, but knowing him, it was something that was very persuasive. Apparently, there's been an uneasy truce ever since."

He continued. "To your question, though, Idaho is a beautiful place. Derek has a wonderful piece of property, so there is always something to see. His property is close to a mountain stream, which leads to a lake. It really is a great place to decompress, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this time."

Xander nodded. He'd never been exposed to much wilderness, but he agreed with Wesley, this time in Idaho would be great for relaxation. The more he thought about his relationship with Giles, Willow, and Buffy, the more he started to see the problems that they'd all seemed to just neglect, and gloss over. Here were three people who realized the need to heal, to deal with problems rather than just ignore them.

Faith seemed to sense that he was thinking about something serious. "X, are you alright? You seem to be a thousand miles away."

Xander turned and looked at Faith. "Yeah, I was just thinking about how messed up the Scoobies have been for the last three years. We're only teenagers, but we're dealing with so many things, and none of us has thought about talking about our problems. I would have thought that Giles, at least, would have wanted to talk these things through, but I guess not."

Wesley heard what Xander was saying, and jumped in. "Well, Xander, our training as Watchers is Slayer-specific. We weren't trained to help anyone talk through his or her stress; we simply worked with the Slayer, who would have understood what she faced, so there would have been no need to talk anything out with others. The Slayer and her Watcher would simply rely on one another to get by."

"Yeah, we never really talked about the things we fought. I don't know why we never did, but we just didn't. You'd think we would've, since we couldn't really talk to anyone else about what we were going through. Man, no wonder we've had so many problems."

Derek shook his head as he drove. "It's funny how easy it is just to shut down. When we were in the Legion, Wes and I were unique, largely because of the job we did. No one really talked about any real problems or concerns; to do it would be to admit weakness, and the Legion just didn't accept any weakness. With us, Wes and I freaked out so many Legionnaires because of the things we did. People would look at us funny, and whisper to themselves about the rumors they'd heard about us, so we had to rely on each other to deal with our problems. That's one of the things that we wanted to make sure happened during this past year, which is why we sank so much money into buying buildings in Sunnydale. We wanted to have places to go to communicate with each other. We bought the Pump because we wanted a public place to do dead drops, but we could also have casual conversations, and they wouldn't be suspicious to any prying eyes. We bought the hotel so we had a place to live, sure, but also so we had more ways to communicate."

Xander smiled as he thought about just how much the Scoobies had overlooked. Then, something occurred to him. "Wes, did you live at that hotel?"

Wesley smiled. "Yes. Derek and I both had rooms there. I had to change out of my suits every day before coming to the hotel, so as not to arouse suspicion. Fortunately, none of you were really that concerned with my comings and goings."

Faith laughed a bit at a memory that popped in her head. "Wes, do you remember that time you walked in with your dress shoes still on? You had jeans and a sweatshirt on, and you still had those fancy leather shoes on? Fabulous!"

Wesley glanced at the Slayer and grinned a bit. "Yes, I do remember. It's not like you'd let me forget it."

Buffy and Willow spend the night watching movies, chatting with Joyce, and generally trying not to talk too much about what they'd learned earlier in the day. Late in the evening, after Joyce had gone to bed, Buffy and Willow sat in Buffy's living room, alone with their thoughts as some romantic comedy played on TV.

"Buffy, what are we going to do? I've been thinking about this a lot, and I just don't know what to do."

Buffy turned on the sofa to face her friend. "Will, I don't know what we can do. I mean, it's done, right? Faith and Wesley were good guys. I don't know how to handle that. We spent so much time fighting Faith and ignoring Wesley."

Willow shook her head. "Yeah, but I'm talking about Xander. He just took off with them!"

"Willow, I know, but Xander is his own person. Look, he was going to leave for the summer anyway. Why are you so worried about this?"

"I guess I'm just worried that he'll come back and hate me, all of us. Who knows what they'll talk about? What they'll say about us? And, and, who's this other guy? It's all so frustrating." She put her head in her hands and pouted a bit.

Buffy smiled a little and replied. "Willow, it's Xander. You've known him forever, right? I can't imagine him hating you, or his opinions changing so quickly. I mean, if you think about it, he was just as in the dark as we were, you know? And if Wesley and Faith are really good guys, then surely we can find a way to get along. Don't worry about it too much, Will. It'll work itself out in time." Buffy didn't add it out loud, but the words, 'I hope' were tacked on to the end of her sentence.

Truthfully, Buffy had as many concerns as Willow did about this whole thing. Everything changed so quickly, and the last thing that changed so fast was Angel, when he lost his soul. Fast change wasn't of the good, in Buffy's opinion, so this thing had her freaked out. She just couldn't show it to Willow, because Willow could get herself worked up pretty quickly.

_I need to talk to Giles_, Buffy thought as she and Willow sat watching the movie.

"Will, maybe we should talk to Giles tomorrow, and maybe Mom, too. After all, didn't Travers say he thought it was a problem for us to keep things so bottled up?"

Willow thought for a bit, and agreed. "Yeah, maybe that would help. I guess it couldn't hurt too much."

Neither girl was totally convinced that talking about the "Xander situation," as they'd taken to calling it, would actually get anything solved. But both could at least admit that things had gotten totally out of control in their lives, and it might be a good idea to try something different.


	18. Chapter 18

Derek pulled the RV into the parking lot of the diner, looking for his pickup truck as he maneuvered the big vehicle into a space. As he put the RV into park, he finally saw his truck, a late model, four-door diesel pickup.

"Here's Wendell. Looks like he kept the truck in one piece. Or, he got it fixed to look like new." Derek smiled as he saw someone get out of the truck next to his own.

"Man, look at that! She's all grown up! Faith, do you remember me telling you about Josie, Wendell's daughter? Look who's getting out of the truck next to mine."

Wesley peered out of the front window. "It does look like she's grown up quite a bit. As I recall, she's only what, sixteen years old?"

"Yep. It seems like we've been gone forever. I remember her having quite the crush on a certain British Legionnaire."

Faith smiled. "Ohhh yeah! That's right, you told me she loved her some Wesley Wyndham-Pryce! It was all, 'Would you like another cup of tea, Mr. Pryce?'"

Wesley smiled a bit. "She's a good girl, Wendell and Lois have raised a wonderful daughter. How do you know them, exactly, Derek?"

Derek looked back as he began to grab and sort the various bags and gear they were transferring to his truck. "Wendell is the chief of the local Shoshone tribe; he reached out to the local Sheriff, who's a buddy of mine, to help with the werewolf situation. I got them up to speed weapons wise, and we went hunting. Most of those guys knew about this fight long before I got there, but I helped them with some tactics, too. Once we took care of all of them, we all went back and had a big celebration at his house. Then, the next day, they came to my place and we celebrated again. Seeing as it was just me at my house, Lois and some of the ladies helped get me sorted out. There were about forty people, between the hunters, their families, and me, so while I grilled up burgers and hot dogs the ladies helped out with other stuff that I had at the house, like all of the sides and stuff. I kind of got adopted by all those ladies, so that was really cool."

"Since then, Wendell and Lois' family has been my family, to some extent. When I split wood for the winter, I split enough for them, too. I eat at least two meals a week there when I'm in town, and they have a couple of meals with me at my place. Wendell's cousin, Jimmy, runs the diner here, so we're going to hook up and grab a meal here with them, then head out to my place. Jimmy wants to reconnect, so this is the easiest way to do it. Jimmy was one of the guys I trained out here, so he and I go back a bit."

Xander nodded and asked, "What is it, like a 'Dances With Wolves' kinda thing?"

Derek grimaced. "Um, no. I'm not some white guy trying to be an Indian and I'm not a Christian trying to either convert the heathen or worship the 'noble savage.' I'm just a guy who came here to get away from things, found some folks I liked and who would tolerate me, and we got along. There aren't that many people in this world who tolerate me so I try to stay close to them if I find them."

Xander chuckled and asked another question. "Derrick, am I going to stick out in my clothes here? I mean, I don't dress to impress, but…"

"Yeah, you don't, but don't worry about that. I'll get you taken care of." Derek grinned a little. "I know a guy who knows a guy and you'll blend in in no time."

The four stepped out of the RV and into the Idaho sun. As they did, the sun warmed their faces and their hearts, as did the vivacious sixteen year-old girl running towards them.

"Derek! Wesley! Welcome home!" Josie jumped into Derek's arms, nearly knocking him over. Spinning around, the two came to a stop and Josie quickly reached out and hugged Faith almost as hard. The two girls had started something of a pen pal-type relationship, at Wesley's behest, and this was the first time they'd actually met in person.

She calmed down a bit, brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and looked at Wesley.

"Hi, Wesley," she smiled as she looked up at the grinning Brit, "how have you been? It's been a long time."

Wesley surprised her by putting his bag down and grabbing the young girl in a big bear hug, surprising the girl and making her parents, who were walking towards them, smile a bit.

"Young lady, I've missed your enthusiasm and your smile. Indeed, it's been too long. How have you been since we've been here last?"

Josie smiled as she looked back at her parents. "I just got my license last week. My dad let me drive here!"

Derek feigned shock as he looked at Wendell. "What? You're kidding me?"

Wendell spoke with a straight face. "Well, I figured we had your truck for a little while longer, so if she wrecked it, you could take care of it."

Derek threw his head back in laughter as he reached for Wendell and the two embraced as old friends. Greetings were exchanged, bags were removed from the RV and thrown into trucks, and the seven friends walked into the diner. Xander looked a bit troubled.

"You aren't worried about someone taking the stuff in the back?"

Wendell looked over at Derek and grinned. "City boy, huh?"

Derek smiled and nodded. He turned to face Xander. "Xander, that the stuff is in Wendell's truck would be enough, but between the two of us, do you think anyone'd be crazy enough to take our stuff? This is a small town, about 2500 people live here. There aren't any secrets here. C'mon, let's go eat. Jimmy makes a mean elk burger, and the fries are pretty good, too. It's Idaho, right?" He slapped the young man on the shoulder and guided him into the restaurant.

Faith and Josie went off to the bathroom together, as girls mysteriously do, while the rest of the group went to sit at a booth big enough to accommodate them. Lois looked over to Derek and smiled.

"You look good, son. The time in California went well, I take it?"

Derek smiled at his second mother and nodded. "Yes, ma'am. It wasn't all sun and surf, but we did the job. How's life back home?"

Lois feigned a serious look. "Josie has been driving us crazy asking about when you'd be returning, about what California was like, all sorts of things." She looked around conspiratorially, leaned in, and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think she wants to know more about Wesley than you, though. Don't be too hurt."

Derek laughed, and Wesley shook his head in mock sadness. "Lois, don't you get started on me, too. It's bad enough that I have to take it from Derek and Faith. I'd hoped for some charity from you."

Lois chuckled as she patted Wesley's shoulder. "Don't worry, Wesley. I'll protect you from Josie. She's just smitten by the accent, I think!"

The group sat down and ordered their meals as Faith and Josie returned from the bathroom. Josie looked over at Xander and smiled.

"So you're Xander? Hi, I'm Josie. Faith wrote to me about you." She reached out to shake Xander's hand, surprising him with her grip as they shook hands.

"Hi, yeah, I'm Xander. Nice to meet you, Josie." Xander sat back and sipped his water, watching the interactions around the table. Older people and younger people joked, laughed, and talked in a way that Xander just didn't remember ever seeing in his world. The way young and old people related in his life had always been tense and filled with conflict.

Faith was about to lean in and ask if Xander was alright when a large man in a white t-shirt, apron, and baseball hat walked up. Smiling, the man reached across the table and grasped Derek's outstretched hand. The man stood six feet tall and was built like a refrigerator, broad and wide, but not overly obese; just thick and solidly built.

"Welcome home. It's been too long."

Derek nodded and smiled warmly. "Jimmy, it has been too long, as Josie was just telling me. How have you been, my friend?

"I can't complain. I'm glad you're back, though. Josie's been terrorizing the town with your truck, and you've been taking a lot of abuse because of it." He smiled over at his brother, Wendell.

"Let me guess, Wendell has told everyone that it was my idea to loan the truck to Josie."

Wendell couldn't contain his laughter long, and soon everyone at the table was having a good laugh, Josie included. Derrick laughed right along with them.

"Oh well. Maybe I can find more things to kill to restore some goodwill?"

Jimmy guffawed. "There aren't enough werewolves around to fix that much damage!" He turned and began to walk back to his kitchen. "I'll see you later tonight for dinner at your place!"

The rest of the meal was basically standard. There was food, which was swapped and tasted by everyone at the table. There was also conversation, which ranged from the serious to the sublime. Xander noticed how liberating it was to be able to talk to Wendell and Lois; they knew about what was going on in the supernatural world, but they didn't have a claim staked in the fight. They were simply tender ears to hear the things that the group needed to unload, and that's what began to happen. Slowly, the walls were coming down, and the group had begun to depressurize.

After snatching the bill from the waitress before Jimmy could tear it up, Derek said, "OK, let's hit the road. It's another twenty minutes to my place. Wendell, I'll see y'all when I see you, right?" They had reached their respective trucks.

"Actually, it'll be a couple of hours. Lois and her friends are planning something to welcome you back properly. We'll bring everything at six. Don't make any dinner; you know how it is."

Derek smiled and nodded. "Got it, Wendell. See you then." He turned to face Josie. "Keys, please."

Josie smiled and sheepishly handed him his keys. "I wasn't that out of control."

"Yeah, I'll bet. Go on, girl. We'll see you soon." He hugged the young girl and they went their separate ways.


	19. Chapter 19

Buffy, Giles, Joyce, and Willow sat around the dining room table, eating lunch and discussing the events of the recent past. The two adults had concerns as to how the girls would react to what was being talked about, and had both resolved to be firm and, and at the same time, patient as they talked.

Giles was the first to bring up the difficult subject. He wiped his mouth with his napkin, replaced it in his lap, and cleared his throat.

"Joyce, that was a wonderful meal, thank you for the invitation. I've been doing some thinking about all of the issues with which we've recently dealt. I'm of the opinion that Travers, while often self-serving and brusque, has made an interesting and valid point. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding our relationship with Wesley and Faith, the simple fact is that we have allowed ourselves, through ignorance and apathy, to become so easily distracted, so selfish, that we've nearly been killed because of it."

Through a mouthful of sandwich, Buffy asked, "What do you mean?"

Joyce answered for Giles. "Buffy, what Rupert means is that we, and I'll include myself in this, too, have been acting like idiots. We've ignored pain, glossed over big problems, and because of it, there are huge problems that we have to face head on if we are going to survive."

The two teenagers thought about the things they were hearing. Neither of them were really looking forward to talking about this whole mess, but they each, in the quiet of their own minds, had to admit that maybe that was why they needed to do it.

It was Buffy who decided to respond first. "Mom, I don't know how this is going to work, but I think we should try. As much as I don't want to admit it, Travers might be right. I was fighting with you, fighting the bad guys, fighting Giles about being the Slayer, then just ran away from my problems after Angel and Acathla. Once Angel got sent back from Hell, I hid him and didn't tell anyone. I'm just tired. I'm tired of the lies, I'm tired of the secrets, and I'm tired of fighting the people I love."

Joyce felt the hurt in her daughter's words, and her heart broke for her. It was only recently that Joyce had learned about her daughter had a calling to save the world, but Joyce was determined to not only accept her daughter's gift, but also to help her adjust, to offer support, and to make her life as seamless as possible. One of the things that she hadn't told anyone was that she had squirreled away enough money to pay for Buffy's college education, and would have presented that fact as a gift to Buffy over the summer.

Travers' revelation had rendered that a moot gesture, but Joyce still had something in mind for that money as it applied to her family. Her mind had wandered quite a bit in the last day or so as to how to use that money for Buffy's well being, and she figured that at some point, she'd discuss it with Rupert before making any choices.

"Buffy, I think that's a good admission, and I think that as the summer progresses, we can work on dealing with our communication between us. Once the summer comes to an end, and the others return, we can begin to do the same things with them. Willow, what do you think about all of this?" Giles turned to face the young redhead.

Willow fidgeted in her seat. She still wasn't sure about this whole situation. She was having a hard enough time dealing with Xander's leaving with Faith, much less all the other stuff about Faith, Wesley and her recent failure during the end fight with the Mayor.

"It's just… I don't know… Giles, I'm really sorry. I just can't figure this all out! Why didn't someone tell us? It could've saved so many problems! It's just so frustrating!"

Giles patiently waited to hear what Willow had to say, and replied. "True, Willow, but the fact is that there were valid reasons for the deception, and while we might not like to admit it, the truth is that those reasons were largely because of how we acted. However, that is in the past, and we must deal with the situation as it currently is, not as we would like it to be."

"Yeah, but how? That's what I don't understand."

Giles stopped, cleaned his glasses, and replaced them on his nose. As Giles had been mulling over this thing, he'd had to remind himself that Willow was raised in an aloof, distant, and at times, nonexistent, family. She did not have the foundation of trust and understanding that others might have had, and Giles had made a conscious decision to work harder and more patiently with Willow in this area.

"Willow, the best way to do this is exactly what we're doing now. That is to say, we are talking and admitting that we might not know that which we must do. By opening up our hearts to one another, perhaps we can come together and strengthen our bonds, which will draw us closer to one another and aid us in this fight. If we are more trusting of one another, if we know how to help one another because we've opened up to each other, then it would stand to reason that we would be a more effective fighting force. I agree with you, Willow, that it is hard, and that I am, at times, frustrated by this whole lifestyle. But the first step is what we're doing now." He reached across the table and squeezed the young girl's hand.

None of the people seated at the table were entirely convinced that Giles was right, but they realized that the way things had been going up until that point had been disastrous. Joyce, feeling the need to help Giles support Willow, spoke up.

"Willow, we all have things to deal with in this. You know I've just found out about Buffy, and now I've just found out that Faith was undercover." She chuckled sardonically and continued. "On top of that, I also found out that Buffy nearly killed Faith in all of this chaos, and that while she was suffering through trying to balance all of this, I was making it harder on her! So, Willow, I know it's hard, but we have to work through this as a family. That means no holding back, actually talking out our problems."

Willow looked around the room and considered what Joyce had said. As she looked back on her life, she realized that she had never had anyone to whom she could turn. She realized that she was scared of that kind of relationship, the kind of commitment that it seemed like Giles and Mrs. Summers were saying they needed.

Buffy, seeing Willow's confusion, jumped in to help her friend cope. "Will, I love you so much. You're my best friend. Don't pull away from us. We need you, the real you, not just 'Research Girl' or 'Resolve Face Willow,' but Willow Rosenberg. I don't know how we'll deal, but we'll deal. It's not going to be easy, and I know we'll probably screw up during this whole process, but I'm tired of the lies, Will. I just can't handle it, and I hate to admit it, but we screwed up. So please, please, don't shut us out."


	20. Chapter 20

Ten miles from the Summers' home, in a small hotel room, four British men sat impatiently, listening to the conversation taking place on Revello Drive.

"Can you believe any of this rubbish?" Thomas said to no one in particular.

James grunted and shook his head. "This is all shite, if you ask me. It's all touchy-feely in there. She's the Slayer, for Christ's sake! She sounds like one of those Yankee talk show hosts, asking for group hugs! Pitiful!"

Anthony scratched his chin and commented. "Look, we have our job to do. Find Faith and bring her back to England, if possible, but neutralize her, either way. Same with Pryce, and anyone else who gets in our way is collateral damage. As far as these pillocks," he pointed to the computer currently broadcasting the conversation via a bug placed discreetly under the dining room table hours ago, "they'll be here, so they aren't a priority. Let's get ready to deal with our current assignment."

The Brits shut down their eavesdropping equipment and began to sterilize their hotel room. Within an hour, there was no trace that anyone other than the registered occupant had been there. The other three men were simply invisible, at least to anyone doing any real checking.

It was common practice for Watcher's Council Special Operations Groups to travel under the radar as much as humanly possible. This often meant that laws may be bent and policies disregarded, when they needed to be. Group Twenty-Three had no way to know it, but they had missed vital intelligence concerning their prey by mere hours, and that had they turned their equipment on earlier, they would have had a clear path to pursue the "Rogue Slayer" and her companions.

The drive from the diner to Derrick's house was about 20 minutes, and was made in relative silence. Derrick pointed out some of the scenery and local historical points, but by and large the four fighters were ready to stop driving and relax.

Finally, after passing several nondescript driveways that led into the woods, Derrick pulled his truck into one of them, stopping to get out and unlock the gate that led to the rest of his driveway. "Wendell told me he got the mail and locked the gate, so we're good to go," he said as he climbed back into his truck and continued up the driveway.

Xander had been checking out the woods as they made their way to Derrick's home. He had been in the woods of Sunnydale, but for the most part, the woods seemed like a foreign planet to him. He didn't know what Derrick and Wes had in mind for the summer, but he figured that being in the wilderness would figure into it, and he was both nervous and excited to be in a new place.

Derrick parked the truck in the driveway next to his house. His home was of a simple log cabin design, but was larger than a simple cabin. It was, Xander thought, just like what he had seen in books and magazines. The house looked like it was about three or four bedrooms, but was a one-story layout. He didn't notice any power lines connected to his house, and, looking around the property, Xander noted that there were no power poles that he could see. Expecting to have to explain his setup, Derrick spoke to the young man.

"The house is off-grid. I've set up a passive solar array to power everything. We get pretty good sun out here in Idaho, so I took advantage of that. When I designed the house, I wanted to accommodate a couple of people, if need be, so I made the cabin a little bigger than what I would've for just me. I also wanted my privacy, so I set up solar panels on the roof that capture solar energy. I also have a gravity fed spring to provide my water, so I don't pay any utility bills. The house and land are paid off, too."

"Since I wanted privacy, being under the radar is a good thing. Obviously, in our line of work, being high profile brings unwanted and dangerous attention. So, I put the property and business stuff under my Legion name, but I use my American name publicly, so that helps with the privacy, too."

Xander remembered his reading. "You get a different name in the Foreign Legion, right?"

Wes smiled as he grabbed the bags out of the back of the truck. "Yes. That's why so many criminals flocked to the Legion, in the past. It's not that way now, but they still give you a French name. You have the option of retaining the name, if you retire from the Legion. Given our status as current Legionnaires we can still use our French names. It definitely has its advantages."

Wes, Faith, Derrick, and Xander walked, bags in hand, onto the front porch and Derrick put his bag down, got his keys out, and unlocked the door. The front door opened and the group sat their bags down in an open living room, lined with bookshelves. It was a warm feeling room, open and inviting. The kind of place where you didn't really need to have stereos, TVs, or video games, you could just relax, read a book, or take a nap. Xander decided that this might not be such a bad escape to be here, in the wilderness.

Xander put his bag down as he sat down on the bed. Derek's home was pretty nice. There were three bedrooms, so Derek volunteered himself to crash on the couch. Faith would get the master bedroom, since it had a bathroom attached to it, and the guys would share the one in the hallway. There were a few hours to kill before Wendell and his family showed up to "properly welcome" everyone, so Xander decided he needed to stretch out and crash for a while.

While he relaxed, he thought about the last few days. He really hoped that Buffy and the Scoobies could work through this whole affair. It bothered him that there was so much distrust in his life; he was a young man who desperately craved trust and acceptance, even if he didn't fully understand his need for it. There had to be a way to break down the walls that everyone kept throwing up to keep people out, but Xander had to admit that he couldn't think of much, at least at this point.

While Xander relaxed, Faith was getting settled in the master bedroom. She'd put up a bit of a protest, saying that she could just rack out on the couch, but Derek wouldn't have any discussion about it. "You've settled enough during this past year. Take the master bedroom and enjoy the privacy." She grinned a little at the thought that it was nice to have people around she could trust again. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed Wes and Derek during her undercover assignment. Sure, she'd been able to see them, in passing at the hotel, but it wasn't the same as being able to sit down and just hang out with people you knew had your back.

"When did I become such a softy?" Faith laughed as she spoke out loud to herself. She smiled as she finished unpacking, turning her thoughts to what Xander might be thinking about all of this.

"He's gotta be buggin' out," she said, considering Xander's city upbringing. She could relate; the first time she came out to the boonies of Idaho she'd been overwhelmed by the silence, especially at night. After a while, though, she found it easier and easier to relax at the end of a day, and even managed to enjoy the quiet times. She wouldn't trade it for Boston, but it had its charms.


	21. Chapter 21

Derek and Wes sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and tea, respectively, and talking. Wes took a sip of tea and looked over to Derek.

"How do you think Xander's handling all of this?"

Derek smiled. "He'll be alright. He's more resilient than people know. I trailed him down to the basement of the school that night, and I was right on the other side of the door to hear him talk down that Jack guy. Xander's got a bit of ice water in his veins, Wes. You should've heard him. 'I like the quiet.' Classic!"

Derek laughed as he went on. "I'll tell you, Wes, my biggest concern in this is the Scooby gang. Xander's going to be pulled in both directions when we get back. I spent a lot of time near the Scoobies, even though they don't know it, and I'm going to tell you the truth, Wes, there are some big time issues with that group."

Wes nodded. "I know. To call that group self absorbed might not seem fair, given the secretive nature of our work, but they cannot seem to get out of their own way. On one hand, they'll rely on each other in a physical fight to the death, while at the same time, not trusting one another with their feelings or concerns."

Wes took a sip of tea and continued. "They seem to be selective with their trust, so it's hard to pin their actions down to any pattern that might help us fit in, once that time comes. Perhaps if we reach out to Giles prior to our return, he might be able to bring us together in a healthy way. At least in a way that doesn't involve physical violence."

Derek nodded, considering their options. Even though it was early in the summer, it was always prudent to get the ball rolling on plans, to give everyone a chance to think about options, brainstorm, and communicate.

"Wes, what if we invited them out here? Maybe towards the end of summer, after we've all had some time to heal, train, and get our heads right?"

Wes was quiet for perhaps a minute. Derek knew Wes well enough not to bother him at times like this. After a while, Wes spoke.

"That might be the best way for us to connect. If we reach out to them, invite them to your home, and make it clear that we want to work together, perhaps we can send the message that we are not a threat to their group. We all tend to be possessive and protective, so perhaps that is one way to avoid conflict, or at least minimize it."

Derek finished his coffee. "I think it might be wise to put that on the back burner for a while. Faith and Xander need time to get their heads right, both as individuals and to the extent that they're a couple. That might be the top priority right now, just letting them relax, not putting any pressure on them to get things together by a fixed deadline."

Wes nodded. "Yes, you're quite right. We came out here to decompress, and we need to do that before we're of any use to anyone else. Now, we need to get ready for the onslaught of family, don't we?"

Derek smiled. "Yeah, it's going to be crazy. Last time, the party lasted well into the night. It won't matter if we run out of food, not that we actually will. Everyone knows why we were in Sunnydale, and why we came back home for a while. They'll make sure we're taken care of. I can't wait, to be honest with you. Those ladies know how to cook!"

The two men refilled their cups, relaxed, and chatted about what their schedules were going to be while they were in Idaho. As it turned out, both had pretty much the same thing in mind. Since the main reason for their trip was to let Faith, and Xander, now, relax without deadlines, schedules, or expectations, Wes and Derek were going to let them both set their own agendas for the next couple of days. The two older men would do their fair share of relaxing, but there were still things that needed doing.

Derek had a list of repairs for his house that he wanted to accomplish, plus there was wood to be split for the winter, not to mention the normal physical training that went with their mission. Xander and Faith would be excluded from all but the physical training, and that would be light for the first two weeks. Derek's property had lake access, so they would work some swimming into their exercise, as well as their tactical training.

He didn't really wonder about Xander's physical conditioning; he'd seen the boy fight and run. Derek's concern would be Xander's ability to process the massive amount of training he had in mind for the boy. Giles and the others had done Xander a disservice by ignoring him, and Derek had it in his mind to make sure the boy knew what he needed to survive, as soon as possible, and then to thrive in his choice to be in the fight. Derek knew he couldn't guarantee the young man a long, happy life, but he could do whatever he could to give Xander a chance for one.


	22. Chapter 22

As Derek and Wes were preparing to greet guests in Derek's home, four men were in California, making preparations of their own. The Watcher's Council Special Operations Unit 23 was in a public park in Sunnydale, ostensibly grilling lunch and enjoying the California sun. In reality, plans were being made that were much more ominous than a mere picnic.

Anthony, the group's leader, was on the phone, talking to various contacts to try to obtain any actionable intelligence about Faith and Wesley, and now this mysterious American companion they'd picked up. Thomas was keeping up the ruse of a picnic, and Denny and James were discussing what supplies they'd need for their upcoming operations.

As Anthony got off of his phone, he spoke to his cohorts. "Right. I just talked to a witch the Council uses from time to time. She did a spell to locate the Slayer for us. Obviously, we know Summers is here. Faith, however, is in Idaho. Seems she and Wesley got out of the area pretty quickly. They're just outside of a small town in northern Idaho. That's as close as the witch could get us."

He turned to look at James. "How are our weapons suited for that environment?"

"We're good. We have our standard handguns, but we've got enough rifle ammunition, if we need to take them from a good distance. We also have two tranquilizers guns if we need them."

"Good. Denny, do we need anything else?" These were questions to which he was reasonably sure he knew the answers, but it was good to keep his team's heads in the game, and the questions needed to be answered.

"We're in good shape there, as well. The only thing we'll need to do is pick up some clothing closer to Idaho. We've got California clothes, so if we get some local clothing with enough time to stop at a Laundromat to wash and dry the newness out of them, we'll be alright. It's not like we're going to be talking to many people once we get there, so the clothes should be fine as cover."

James answered in a well rehearsed American accent. "Well, I think I can talk our way past any busybodies. I've been practicing my American accent."

The men chuckled as they finished their food and began cleaning up. Packing up their car, the four men got in their car to begin the long journey to Idaho.

The group that descended upon Derek's cabin could only be described as raucous. Ten men, six women, and what seemed like a hundred kids laughed, joked, smiled, and ate for four hours. Stories were told, relationships reconnected, and people generally had a great time with one another.

Xander, for his part, mostly stuck close to Faith, listening to people tell stories about Derek and, on occasion, Wes. Faith had obviously heard them before, but they were told for Xander's benefit. It seemed like Derek's friends wanted to make Xander feel like family. Derek had told Xander earlier that the men who were coming to the celebration were the men that Derek had trained, along with their families.

After folks spent a little time tidying up after the party the foursome was left on their own. "Xander," Derek said as the four sat in the living room, "Wes and I were talking earlier, and we figured we'd take a couple of days and just relax. But we want to start working on easing into your training the starting after that, if that's OK."

Xander nodded. "Sure, no problem. Boot camp starts next week, I guess."

Derek shook his head. "No, not at all. Neither Wes nor I want to make this like boot camp. We've been there and done that. Frankly, we'd much rather make this as stress free a learning experience as possible. Don't get me wrong, we'll make the practical application portion stressful. But we're going back to Sunnydale to blend in with regular folks; it's better to still have some of the traits of regular folks. Boot camp breaks you of your civilian status and remakes you like a soldier.

You aren't a soldier so acting like one just makes you stick out, right? How do you think I managed to go unnoticed by everyone for a year? It wasn't by having a military haircut, with polished shoes and a stiff demeanor. Yeah, my hair's short, but that's still a civilian style, too. I wore regular clothes and did regular things. I made myself as normal as possible; the kind of person you see and then forget you saw."

Wes spoke up. "Xander, we'll make sure you have the tools you need to fight better and help others, but honestly, your unique style of dress, lifestyle, and mannerisms will make you an asset. A group like the Watcher's Council hasn't trained you. Remember when I told you that Giles had a certain blind spot that was brought about by his training? Well, you don't have that. You will be able to adapt your training, once you have it, to working with us, but also with your personality."

Xander breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, I'm glad you said that. I've been thinking about this whole thing. I'm excited about training and learning to fight, but I wasn't looking forward to the yelling and screaming you hear about in boot camp."

Faith chuckled. "It'd be hard to see Derek and Wes acting like that 'Full Metal Jacket' boot camp guy. I'd have a hard time not laughing my ass off!"

Wes looked over at his Slayer and slowly shook his head. "Alright, I've had enough. I'm going to bed. I'll see you all in the morning."

Later, as Xander fell asleep, he thought of his friends back in Sunnydale. He desperately hoped that they would be OK with this whole weird arrangement. He wanted to talk to them and try to help them come to terms with what had happened. Maybe later in the summer he could talk to them, close to when they'd head back.


	23. Chapter 23

**_Author's Note: _**This might seem out of place but bear with me; there's a long-term plan at work here.

Back in Sunnydale, Giles and Joyce were sitting in the Espresso Pump, talking about the upcoming summer. Neither of them knew quite how to predict how it would go.

"Rupert, I have to tell you, I'm at a loss as to how to handle all of this. I've been strong for the sake of the girls when we've talked, but I don't really feel confident about it."

Giles nodded and sipped his tea. "I understand, Joyce, and I must admit, there are times that I feel the same way. It's only been a few days since our final fight with the Mayor. I had planned to take a bit of a break over the summer before looking for work, but now I am at a bit of a loss as to what the future may hold."

He looked out of the front window of the coffee shop, as though the answer might be outside. "If we can help Willow accept the truth of what the last year held so that she can move forward in a mature way, I think that that is the key. Buffy seems to be more understanding of the unique circumstances of the last year, and how her actions, along with all of ours, were out of control. It would appear that Buffy is ready and willing to make a change in how she's pursued her calling, so I don't think she will be nearly as difficult to convince."

Joyce smiled and nodded. "I agree, Rupert. Buffy impressed me when she talked to Mr. Travers, and then later when she was trying to help Willow. I think that once the summer ends, things will probably get a little easier. Once Wesley, Faith, Xander, and this Derek fellow come back, we'll have every opportunity to fix the problems we had. The anticipation of their return seems to have made us all a bit anxious."

There was a pause, and Joyce continued. "There's something else I'd like to talk to you about, Rupert, and I'd like for you to hear me out before you answer."

Giles, struck by the sincerity and tone of Joyce, spoke. "Of course, what is it? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It's just that I have a chance to do something now that I didn't before, and I'd like to get your opinion and feedback before I pull the trigger on my idea."

Giles smiled warmly. "Certainly, what is this idea?"

Joyce sipped her coffee, cleared her throat, and began. "I have been putting a little money aside for Buffy's college education. I worked my way through college, and while I benefitted from it and grew into a more well adjusted adult, I don't think that Buffy should have to do that. Mind you, I want her to work hard for things in life, but I think that her calling as the, sorry, a Slayer, gives her a master's degree in adulthood."

Giles nodded, and Joyce went on. "Anyway, once Mr. Travers came and gave us the news about the Council footing the bill for Buffy's education, I couldn't believe it. It just seemed too good to be true, but I've read the packet of information that the Council sent, and it's pretty basic. The agreement was one page long, and it basically outlined that Buffy's bills were to be forwarded to the Council for them to pay, and that she'd have a monthly stipend directly deposited into a bank account set up in Sunnydale in her name. There were no loopholes that I could find, and I looked pretty closely."

"Which leads me to this, Rupert. I have a large amount of money that will not need to be spent on its original need. My idea is this: I know that you don't have a set future because of the school blowing up. You've got your Watcher's salary, and even a lump sum of retroactive pay, so you don't necessarily need to work. But what if you started a business? It would give you a place to train, to keep your books and weapons, and you'd have a source of income in an area that you know really well, to augment your current income. On top of that, your home could be your home, not a gathering place; you'd still have your privacy."

Giles was taken aback by Joyce's idea, and the implication that she would be willing to help him start a business. He took his glasses off, cleaned them, and replaced them on the bridge of his nose.

"Joyce, I must tell you, I'm dumbstruck by your generosity. I couldn't possibly take your money to…"

"Rupert, you aren't taking anything. I would be giving you the opportunity to do something good to help Buffy and the rest of us. If that's your only concern…"

"N-no, that's not my only concern. Honestly, Joyce, I've been wondering if, in its own way, the destruction of the high school could have been a door closing on a period in my life. Another door always opens in these cases, mind you, but I hadn't begun to consider my future. Once Quinton came and reinstated me and provided me with my back pay, I breathed easier. Your offer is generous, and I am humbled that you think so highly of me to extend it. A used bookshop comes to mind, quite frankly, but I wouldn't know the first place to start where small business ownership is concerned."

Joyce smiled. "A used bookstore is a great idea. Not only would you have an opportunity for walk in business, you could advertise on the Internet. That, I'm told, is going to be a tremendous boom in the future, even more than it is now. A quality used bookstore, advertised well, would generate a steady source of income, not to mention provide you with opportunities to acquire texts to help Buffy, Faith, and the others. I had decided to talk to you about how my museum might be a resource to you in your work, but once Mr. Travers came, I'd forgotten about it."

Giles could hardly believe what he was hearing. He had mused, in brighter times, about running a bookstore, but he'd convinced himself that business ownership was for others; he had his calling, and that was that. Here, though, was a chance to combine both his calling and a dream he'd thought long past.

"Joyce, I must admit, this is a tremendous idea. I don't think I need to think much more about this. I'd be honored to accept your generosity."

Joyce practically beamed. "Excellent! I wanted to talk to you away from the girls about this, and I'm so happy you are willing to do this. If you don't mind, I've got a great deal of experience in this area, and I'd love to help you get up and running. I also have an attorney who can help you get started on the legal paperwork."

Giles laughed. "That's fine. I suppose I should look into locations for the store itself, at some point."

Joyce agreed. "Absolutely. There is one other thing, though, that'd I'd like to ask you."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I've been in the dark for the last few years. I'm new to this whole 'Slayer' thing, and I don't know how to help Buffy and Faith do what they've been called to do as Slayers. Do you think that you could teach me to do something to help? I really think I could be helpful, but I must admit to being at a lost as to how to get started."

Giles thought for a moment or two, and answered, "Joyce, I think you're doing well being a voice of reason in Buffy's life, so whatever you learn from this point forward, don't think you haven't been helpful. However, I agree that you do have to get up to speed about what we do. Right off of the top of my head, I think that your training and vocation in the museum lend itself well to helping us. Your knowledge of history, artifacts, and antiquities, plus your contacts in the industry, could help us acquire unique items as well as information."

"Between the two of us, I dare say that we could be starting a new chapter in the fight on the Hellmouth. Additionally, I think that it would benefit you a great deal to train physically to hold your own, perhaps by working with me, along with Buffy and Willow. You might even accompany us on the occasional patrol, if you'd like."

"Rupert, do you really think I could help Buffy on patrol? What do you and the others do?"

"Much of it involves teamwork, as it applies to Willow, Xander, and myself. Buffy is largely equipped to handle most vampires on her own, by the nature of her calling. One of the problems we ran into was Xander's inability to fight properly. However, instead of training him, I must admit that I simply left him to his own devices. I feel horribly about that, and I think that that is something that we must try to avoid, once the others return."

"I suppose we should talk to the girls about all of this, Rupert, but I have to tell you that I am excited about being able to help you help Buffy. Once the others come back, I think that we can really help them get over all of the problems. I don't think it'll be that easy, but I think that the two of us being on the same page will help Willow and Buffy."


	24. Chapter 24

The four SOG members pulled into the 24 hour Laundromat to break in their recently purchased clothes. The trip from California was quick and uneventful. They had stuck close to the highway, stopping only to gas up their vehicle.

They had found the town in which their witch had told them their Slayer would be found. Each man wanted to find her and get out of the area. Small town Idaho was not where you found British people, and their presence would be betrayed, eventually.

Their concern was that they would lose the element of surprise, and have a much more difficult fight on their hands to achieve their objective. Such was the lot in life of the Special Operations Group; they were used to having to do their job in a quick and dirty fashion.

Given that it was near midnight, there were only a couple of people doing their laundry. No one made small talk at that time of the night, and the four Brits found that to be a blessing, and one less thing about which to worry.

"That party at Derek's place was great, huh? I got a kick out of Faith and her friend." One girl, about 19 or 20, said to her friend, a young man about the same age.

"Yeah, Derek and his friend are really nice guys. They helped us out a while back. I like swimming in the lake at his place, and he told us that we never had to ask for permission."

The couple sat and did their laundry, oblivious to the two men who finished loading their washing machine and exited the Laundromat.

Sitting in their car, Anthony and Denny watched as Thomas and James got in the car.

"James, fire up the computer. Look for a house with a lake on the property. We have a line on Faith and her people. Some guy named Derek, too. I can't believe we got so lucky."

James opened his laptop computer, and in a matter of minutes, had public domain information regarding property owners right in front of him.

"This is odd."

Anthony asked James to explain himself, and James explained. "Well, the only male property owner with a lake on the property is owned by some French guy. It might not be our guy but I have his address here."

After a moment or two of silence, Anthony spoke up. "After we get our clothes out of the drier, let's head there. I think that's where we'll find them. It can't hurt to check it out. It might or might not be an alias, but like I said, it can't hurt to check. If I'm right, we can be in and out of here before sunrise."

The four Brits all agreed in the course of action and waited for their clothes to finish in the drier.

Two hours later, the Council soldiers were in their new clothes and on the road to check out the property they'd discovered was owned by a Frenchman. Pulling up to the mailbox, they found a locked gate blocking their entrance to the property. Slipping a set of bolt cutters out of the trunk, Denny popped the lock off of the gate and, quietly, the other three men opened the gate. They put the car into neutral and pushed the car backwards into the driveway, closing the gate so that no one would realize that the lock was cut off and that anything was unusual. Quietly, the four men prepared their weapons and moved out.

Thomas, armed with a bolt-action rifle, moved quietly to set up overwatch on the property. He moved slowly but purposefully. The other three men, armed with handguns, moved up to the house, spaced about 5 meters apart, quietly working their way through the brush next to the driveway.

Finding no ideal spot to set up his sniper's nest, Thomas slung his rifle over his back and worked to climb a tree he thought would hold his weight and provide some concealment. Scraping his way up the tree, he sat on a large branch and began to sight his rifle in. Finding that his range was about 100 meters, he memorized the layout of the windows, estimated the wind, and generally scanned the target, creating a map in his mind as he waited to see his mates.

Anthony led the way through the woods, carefully avoiding obvious spots where their feet might make too much noise. It seemed like the trip was taking forever, but it was only a few hundred meters from the county road to the house. Calmly, the three Brits assembled just short of the end of the treeline, shy of the grass of the house's front yard by about 2 yards. They caught their breath and Anthony spoke softly to Denny and James.

"Right. James, head around to the back door. We don't have too much time, and we don't have a proper layout of the house so we need to be aggressive. Hit these blokes hard. Denny, when I get a shot at Faith, I'll hit her with the sedative. You'll have to back me up with your pistol. Remember your fields of fire, don't hit each other, and let's get this over with. There'll be about 2 or 3 other people there. Pryce, the American, presumably, and Alexander Harris. Try to avoid needless killing; the mission is Faith, then Pryce."

Denny and James shook their heads, so the three men began to cover the ground between the tree line and house. They did not know where Thomas was, but they knew he'd found a place to provide overwatch.


	25. Chapter 25

Derek couldn't sleep. As was often the case late at night his mind simply would not shut down. He thought about Xander and Faith, their new, burgeoning relationship, and he smiled a bittersweet smile. Other people's happiness often reminded him of his late wife and child, and brought a profound sense of sadness, in spite of his being happy for others. He also thought of Sunnydale and the Scooby Gang, and began to wonder how they'd handle his presence on what they perceived to be their turf.

He'd been on their turf for a year without them knowing it, so that might have ticked them off, but he'd know for certain later. Generally, he thought of the battle into which he'd been providentially called. The deception and danger was so great, and Derek was tired of the subterfuge, at least as it applied to the good guys.

_Enough_, he thought, sitting up and walking into the kitchen. He got off of the sofa, aiming to head to the kitchen to grab a cup of decaf tea and sit out on the front porch. However, as he walked by his living room windows, movement out on the lawn caught his eye. Thinking it was a deer, or maybe a small black bear, he stopped for a second look.

"Crap," Derek said as he quickly became alert. He quickly moved to his gun cabinet, grabbing a .12 gauge shotgun. He didn't need to check to know it was loaded. Flicking the safety off, Derek moved to the hallway, banging on doors.

"Everybody up! Arm yourselves! We've got company! Two men, armed, heading to the front door! Wes, you armed?"

All Derek heard was the sound of a round being slammed into the chamber of a firearm. Moving to the master bedroom, he was greeted by Faith, armed with a machete and a medium-sized fixed blade knife.

"What the hell, D?"

"Faith, back door! Now!" Without arguing, Faith went back to the back door to make sure they had the entrances covered. Xander walked out of his bedroom, unsure as to what he should do.

"X, in the drawer of the table next to your bed is a collapsible baton. Grab it and go help Faith!" Xander was nodding as he went back into his bedroom to grab the baton and help his Faith.

"Derek!" Wes shouted as there was a loud boom at the front door. The gunshots blew the door open and Wes and Derek turned to face the two threats advancing through the door. They both fired and moved towards the threat. Between the .12 gauge and Wes' .45, the attack was over quickly.

Simultaneously, the back door flew open in a similar fashion as the front, but instead of being met with gunshots, the intruder was met with a machete blade crashing down on his hands. With a scream of anguish, the man was shocked as he turned to engage the threat.

His mind sent the message to his hands to begin firing, but his hands wouldn't comply. The man looked down to find his hands lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Faith continued the attack with the knife, until the man fell to the ground in a heap. Xander was stunned not by the violence, but rather by the simple efficiency that Faith exhibited. Sure, he'd seen her with a stake in her hand but never with knives engaging a human target.

As the man hit the floor, Faith turned to Xander. "X, you OK? Xander!"

Snapping out of his haze, Xander answered, "Yeah, I'm good. Wow."

"D! Wes! We're clear back here!"

Derek answered the Dark Slayer. "Yeah, we're clear here! Stay away from the win-."

Almost on cue, a shot rang out, and Wes and Derek dove for cover, scrambling to stay clear of the sniper's line of sight.

"Derek, I'll head out of the back door and track this shooter down. Stay here and draw his fire."

"Got it. Be safe." Derek turned to talk to Faith. "Faith! Crawl up here for a minute. I don't want to yell."

Faith and Xander belly-crawled to the front of the house. Faith spoke in a whisper. "Is there another guy out there?"

"Yeah, just out in those trees. How many people were at the back?"

"Just the one."

Derek thought quickly. "OK. There probably aren't any shooters out back or you'd have been shot while you were in sight through the door. So we've got to distract that shooter so Wes can track him down. Xander, help me toss one of those bodies out the front door."

Xander nodded and began to move, then stopped. "Wait. What?"

Derek pointed at the corpse of one of the men who entered the front door. "If we can toss that body out hard and fast, it might look like someone trying to run away, and the sniper might spend a little time checking him out. If he fires a shot, that'll help Wes find him. If not, Wes'll keep looking, but we'll have to find a way to keep that long gun trained on us and not Wes."

Xander and Derek crawled over to the body of Anthony, although they didn't know his name. They picked him up and threw the body as far and as hard as they could.

Sure enough, a half-second after the body hit the porch, a shot rang out. Ten seconds later, another shot, this one from a .45, pierced the night sky. A scream quickly followed, then a thump. A minute later, Wes' voice was clear and strong.

"Clear! There were only four of them! Derek, a little help, please!"

Derek turned to Faith and Xander. "Stay here. We'll be back in a few minutes." He turned and ran out of the front door.

A few minutes later, Derek and Wes, carrying a third person between them, came back to the house. Wes had a rifle slung over his back, and Derek was shirtless, having wrapped his shirt around the leg of the third man. Derek was chuckling as they approached.

"Faith, Wes shot this guy in the ass."

The stress and adrenaline beginning to bleed off, Faith laughed a jittery laugh. Xander followed suit, and while it certainly was a bad night, the fight was over, and there were no casualties.

"Take this guy into the kitchen, Xander. Put him on the kitchen table. Faith, go into the bathroom and grab the first aid kit from the closet. Wes, go help Xander secure this guy. I don't think he'll run off, but I don't want another fight right now."

As everyone ran to handle their tasks, Derek quickly moved to grab his cell phone. Dialing the number the number to the Sheriff's office, Derek thought fast. Recognizing the Sheriff's voice on the other end, Derek didn't have to worry about his cover story.

"Yeah, hey Kurt, it's Derek. Some folks might be calling 911 about shots fired out near my place. It's handled. No one of your citizens were hurt, but I've got 3 dead and 1 wounded."

Kurt's voice was clipped as he took in the info. "Damn, boy, you sure you're alright?" Kurt, a Vietnam veteran, was much older than Derek, almost like a father figure, always called Derek "boy." Shortly after Derek moved to Idaho, he and the sheriff struck up a friendship built on shared experience.

"Yeah, we're alright out here. Just tell folks we were shooting off some fireworks too late, and that I'll be by later today to apologize to them, if need be."

"Well, I don't think that'll be a big deal, boy. You need some help out there?"

Derek didn't want to burden a law enforcement officer with this, even though Kurt knew the score of things. "No, sir, we'll take care of it. I don't want your hands dirty. I'll be by in a day or so to give you a statement."

"Yeah, about that, boy. Our computer system's down. I can't take statements for a while. You understand?"

Derek smiled. "Yes, sir. Let's meet at Jimmy's for a bite to eat in a day or so, then."

"Well now, that's a fine idea. Keep your powder dry, son." They hung up and Derek went back inside.


	26. Chapter 26

As Derek walked into his house, his anger began to rise. He saw the front door busted off the hinges, along with the bodies, both the one on the front porch and the one in his living room. A quick scan around the room revealed multiple bullet and buckshot holes that would need patching. In spite of the damage, Derek found himself relieved that none of his people, as he thought of them, were hurt. Stepping over the corpse in his home, Derek walked into the kitchen, muttering to himself in French.

Noting that the survivor was sitting on his rear on the table, Derek asked Faith, "Why is he sitting on his wound?"

Faith looked a bit sheepish. "Well, he wouldn't stop fighting me. I wanted to lay him down on the kitchen table, but he just wouldn't knock it off. I figured a little pain might slow him down some."

Derek nodded. Turning to Xander, Derek pointed to the large first aid kit Faith had grabbed from the bathroom.

"Xander, get Wes to help you sterilize the tools we'll need for this guy. He'll show you what we'll need, what they do, and how we clean them. No time like the present to start learning. The tools are clean but I just want to make sure. I haven't used them in a while."

Turning to Faith and the survivor, Derek looked down on the man. "Now, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. You have the choice, of course, to lie to me. Trust me when I tell you that I have the ability to confirm or deny your answers. I have some idea as to who you are, but I'm still going to ask you."

He spoke to Faith. "Faith, in that drawer by the back door, there's a package of zip ties. Grab them for me."

As he waited for the zip ties from Faith, Derek talked to the man on the table. "If you try to fight, I'll knock you out. Whether you live or die doesn't matter much to me so if you give me a reason, I'll drop you."

The man sat still on the table as Faith handed Derek the package. Taking a few out, Derek spoke. "Hands behind your back."

The man refused to move, glaring at Derek hatefully. Sighing, Derek reached out with both hands, picked him up and sat him down hard, causing him to wince and cry out as the pain of his gunshot wound shot through his body. Grabbing the man's hands, he quickly zip tied them together behind his back, forming a crude set of handcuffs.

"Hurts, huh? Oh well." Derek looked at his friends over by the stove as they got the proper tools ready for Derek. "We ready?"

Wesley said that they were and Derek looked back at the man.

"Good. Now, I'm going to ask the questions and you're going to answer them. Please, before we begin, spare me the anger and the whole 'You don't know who you're dealing with!' stuff. Honestly, I know I'm dealing with arrogant amateurs who were in over their heads. For example, you tried to set up a hide on a tree branch so close to an unknown target, without care to what defenses might be in place? What was your exfil plan, magic carpet? No matter, it's not important; I have bigger fish to fry."

Derek walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. He opened it, took a sip, and handed the bottle to Faith. "Faith, give him some water."

The man looked carefully at Derek, then Faith, then the water, but he drank. When he polished off the bottle, Derek asked him his first question.

"For whom do you work?"

There was a pause, and the wounded man refused to speak. Wesley and Xander stood by the stove, tools laid out on a towel, waiting for Derek to call for them. After about thirty seconds, Derek spoke again.

"For whom do you work?"

Another ten seconds brought nothing but silence. Without warning, Derek lashed out, grabbing the man roughly, picking him up and dumping him down, face first, so that his gunshot wound was exposed. Leaning over, close to the man's ear, Derek spoke.

"I don't think you fully understand the seriousness with which I'm asking this question. I'm going to ask one more time, and when I finish asking the question, you have until I count to one to give me the answer." Derek walked to the first aid kit, put on latex gloves, and grabbed a bottle, opening it and leaving the cap on the counter.

The tension in the air was palpable, and Faith, Wesley, and Xander were jittery as they waited to see what Derek would do.

"For whom do you work?"

No answer.

"One."

With that, Derek roughly jammed his gloved forefinger and thumb into the gunshot wound, opened it up, and poured a portion of the contents of the bottle into the wound. A split second later, the man began to scream.

As he screamed, Derek sat the bottle down, revealing to the others that it was isopropyl alcohol. Leaning into the man's ear, Derek spoke while he screamed.

"You think this hurts? You don't fully understand how painful I can make this. I don't have the time to play your silly games. I've been around the block a time or two. I know the POW drill, I've had the best SERE training there is, and I can guarantee that I'm a lot better at this than you. You think your precious employer cares that you're in this situation? They're most likely writing you off the same way they would a tax deduction for business expenses because that's all you are to them."

Standing up straight, Derek asked his original question again.

"For whom do you work?"

He was a tad more patient this time, giving the man time to calm down. This time, however, the pain made the prisoner more compliant. He spoke, revealing all that Derek wanted in the first place.

"I work for the Watcher's Council." The man's British accent was unmistakable.

Derek's face clouded, and the others were shocked. "What's your name?"

The man obviously knew Derek's resolve. "Thomas."

"Alright, Thomas. You obviously weren't here because you like Idaho and enjoy dropping in for unannounced visits to unsuspecting homeowners. Can I assume, from your presence here, that the Council still has a contract out on Faith?"

"Yeah. We got that 'stand down' message from Travers but it didn't change our mission one bit."

"Why?" This came from Wesley, who had much more of a dog in the fight when it came to the Council.

"Why to you think, you ponce? Nothing changed for us. Your girl is out of control. For us it is as simple as that. Our orders were to continue our mission until we achieved our objective."

Xander was furious. "You idiots! Didn't you pay attention to your boss? What part of 'stand down' was so hard for you to understand?" He couldn't believe that he'd nearly lost what he had so recently found, and it made him angry and protective.

Derek tried his best to calm Xander down, but had to admit, he was more sympathetic to the boy's feelings. "Xander, you have to remember, these guys are mission-oriented; they do as they're told. They're a lot like us, to some extent, although not 100% the same. The downside to being in the black is that it makes them that much easier to manipulate. However," he said, turning back to Thomas, "my young friend does bring up an interesting point. Did Travers order you to continue hunting us?"

"Our team's orders came from someone other than Travers."

Wesley spoke to Derek. "May I have a word with you in the hall?"

Once the two men were in private, Wes spoke softly. "Derek, we need to alert Quinton to this. If what this man is saying is true, and I don't doubt that it is, Quinton needs to know that there is a coup d'état going on."

Derek agreed. "Make the call, give him the details, and tell him to be careful with whom he shares this information. He can't know everyone who's involved but he has to have a few trusted allies."

Wes stopped before making his phone call. "Why the rough treatment with the alcohol?"

"Two reasons. The first is that I was pissed off about being attacked and that guy was wasting my time. The second is that I figured I'd have to clean that wound out anyway before treating it, so why not kill two birds with one stone?"

Wes smiled and nodded, going off to make his phone call.

Derek walked back inside the kitchen. "Alright, Thomas. So, what I'm hearing you say is that there are people on the Council who do not believe or agree with Travers and have taken steps to pursue a different agenda. Would that be accurate?"

Thomas thought for a moment, realizing the magnitude of his group's orders, the implications of their operation, and nodded.

His realization was not lost on Faith, who had been strangely quiet. "D, is this guy for real?"

Thomas lashed out at the girl. "If Travers had let us in on the plan, then this wouldn't have happened! How were we supposed to know it wasn't legitimate? Travers is using the Council for his own agenda and needs to reigned in and taught a lesson."

Derek answered that. "You were supposed to follow orders. You allowed yourselves to be manipulated by men who aren't in harms way, who wear suits and play games. By acting outside of accepted protocols, you screwed up. Look, I get it. Our line of work is blacker than black. We operate out on the ragged edge of society, but that doesn't change the fact that you still have a chain of command for a reason. That you didn't know what was happening is unfortunate, but it doesn't change the fact that your mates are dead and you've got a bullet in your ass. How's that feel, by the way?"

"It hurts, you wanker. I suppose it's a shallow grave for me, then?"

Derek shook his head. "No. We're not in the murder business. I'm going to pull that bullet out of you, stitch you up, and send you on your way back to Jolly Old. Your friends will be shipped back to the Council, my treat. Hopefully, your handler will reimburse me. What do you think?"

Thomas grimaced, "I highly doubt it. You know that this isn't over. The men on the Council will probably still send more units after you."

"Well, I hope we can avoid that. More importantly, I hope they wise up, but ambitious bureaucrats rarely do. They just send guys like you and me to be fed into the meat grinder. Thomas, you need to tell the others to wise up. Keep coming after my people and me and y'all'll eventually need to hold a job fair." With that, Derek stood up and looked over to the Slayer.

Derek turned to Faith. "Faith, grab that syringe on the counter. Sedate Thomas so I can get to work. It won't do to have him squirm while I'm working."


	27. Chapter 27

Wesley got off of the phone just as Derek was beginning to close Thomas' wound. He didn't look up as Wes walked in. Xander and Faith had taken the bodies out to the back porch, and were going to grab some trash bags for makeshift body bags until they saw Wes get off of the phone. They had begun to clean up some of the mess around the house, but came back into the kitchen.

"Quinton's been alerted to what just happened. He was dismayed, but even he had to admit, not surprised. It seems that making the changes in the Cruciamentum, coupled with our undercover operation and newfound reconnection with Buffy and Giles, has caused friction with some of the more hardline Council members. They want a return to the way things were, namely the Council holding the power over the Slayer and her Watcher."

"Bullshit! Guys, Travers might be a bit of a tightass, but he went out on a limb for us. We've gotta help, if we can!"

Xander agreed. "Yeah, but Faith, what can we do? We're here in the States. It's not like we can fax ourselves to England."

Derek finished his stitching, cleaned the area surrounding the stitches, and placed a bandage over the sutures. He took his gloves off, threw them away, and stretched.

"I don't disagree about helping Travers. However, Xander's right, his fight is more political than tactical, at least in England. I don't suspect that the faction that sent these guys would have Travers killed, so we can only do what we can here. If they send more of those SOG guys, we send 'em back to England, dead or wounded, until the picture is clear to everyone involved that it's not a fight they can win."

"But that's not the only problem we have, folks. Xander, you need to get on the phone to Giles."

Everyone turned to Derek to get an explanation. "Listen, Wes and I had talked about the possibility of inviting the Scoobies out here towards the end of summer, as a goodwill gesture, but also as a way of working out some of our issues. We thought that by opening up our lives we could begin to repair our relationship. However, because of this, the timeline needs to be rushed. These SOG gents aren't going to stop, and if they came for us, they'll probably be interested in a little payback on Buffy and her people. It's obvious that collateral damage isn't an issue with them, so we need to get everyone together, get on the same page, and work out a plan."

The other three fighters thought for a moment or so about what Derek had to say. None of them could come up with a reason that Xander shouldn't make that call, and Wes was the first to speak.

"Faith, I think that Derek is right. Whatever the outcome, we need to get the others involved. To ignore the threat to them would just solidify their mistrust of us, and we can't do that."

"Yeah, yeah, Wes, I hear you. But I don't have to like it, do I? I mean, this time last week Buffy nearly put my guts on the floor. That can't be easy to get over quickly."

Xander stepped up alongside Faith. "Look, whatever happens, we're here for you. I'm here for you."

Derek clapped his hands. "Alright, enough touchy-feely. Xander, make that call and if you need to, pass Wes or me the phone. Faith, you and Wes finish cleaning this up. I'm going to get my tools and try to see what I need in the way of repairing my house and securing it a bit more, in case we get hit again."

Wes handed Xander his cell phone, and Xander began to dial Giles' number. It was late in Sunnydale, but that couldn't be helped. Derek was right, the Scoobies were in danger, and they needed to get out here.

It was nearly two in the morning, and Rupert Giles was in the middle of a wonderful night's sleep. The events of the past day or so had put him in a wonderful mood, and he was pleased to be looking forward to the hectic pace of the next few weeks. Nothing had been set in stone, no money spent yet, but Giles and Joyce had been furiously planning and outlining ideas and concepts for the used bookstore venture. It had mentally exhausted him, and even though he still had the occasional nightmare, he found that because of his exhaustion, he could return to sleep quickly.

That was not the case on this night. The incessant ringing eventually woke Giles up, and, struggling to find his glasses, Giles swore under his breath as he answered the phone.

"Hello?" Giles said through clenched teeth. He had heard from Buffy already, so he didn't worry about anything having happened to his Slayer, which gave him the freedom to be irritated.

"G-man? Hey, it's Xander."

Giles quickly woke up, running his hand through his hair, for some reason, as thought that would help him pay better attention.

"Xander, wh-what is it? Where are you? Are you alright?"

Xander chuckled a bit. "Wow, Giles, I've never heard you get so worked up about me. Thanks. To answer your questions, I'm in Idaho, as you might have guessed. I'm alright, but I need you to listen carefully, because things out here just got crazy, and it might be contagious."

Giles didn't really understand Xander, but that didn't surprise him. "Alright, Xander. What's going on?"

Xander filled Giles quickly on where he was, whom he was with, and the subsequent attack on the house. When he finished, Giles was able to understand more fully why he'd called so early in the morning.

"You say you're all OK?"

"Yeah, we're right as rain. I can't say the same thing for the Watcher hit squad, but we're good to go."

Giles was simply stunned that a Council member would use the Special Operations Group for a political struggle. There had been political infighting in the past, but the SOG had always been sacrosanct when it came to that kind of thing. For someone to manipulate those men spoke to the hostility that Travers must have been dealing with when he came to Sunnydale. _No wonder he was a bit terse with us_

"Giles, Derek and Wes think it's a good idea to get together and work out a plan so that we can help Travers. We don't really know what to do from all the way over here, but they'd had the idea to invite the Scooby gang out to Idaho later in the summer. I guess recent events have sped things up. What do you think? Is it a good idea to get together?"

It was reassuring to Giles that Xander still wanted his input. He'd never realized how much he'd grown to care for the boy, and recent events had made him see his failure to mentor Xander. It was a failure he wanted to rectify, and so he jumped at the chance to offer guidance.

"Xander, I think that Derek and Wesley make a good point. I'm sorry that you all had to deal with a physical attack, but I'm grateful that you are all OK, Faith included. Can you relay that message for me, son?"

Xander paused and his breath hitched. _Giles just called me "son."_. It took a moment for him to recover. "Sure thing, Giles. Will you call us back once you've talked to the others?"

"Yes. What is the number where I can reach you?" He searched for a pen and paper.

"Hold on, I'll ask." Giles heard Xander call for Derek. "Hang on, here's Derek. Bye, G-man."

"Yes, goodbye, Xander. Hello? Derek?"

"Hello, Mr. Giles. I'm Derek. I'm sorry we're talking for the first time under these circumstances, but it can't be helped. Here's my number." With that, he gave Giles the number to his secure cell phone.

"Thank you, Derek. Please feel free to call me Rupert. I agree, I would have loved to meet you under different circumstances as well. I am glad that you are all alright out there. I told Xander that I would call back after I'd spoken to the others. I want you to know that I agree with you about getting together and coming up with a plan together."

With that, the two men said their goodbyes and hung up. Giles looked at the phone and shook his head. His demeanor, so pleasant over the last 36 hours, had completely changed. Now, he was as anxious and irritated as he had been happy.

"I cannot believe the Council." he muttered under his breath as he reached for the phone again. Dialing a familiar number, he spoke when the connection was made.

"Joyce, it's Rupert. Yes, I'm fine, nothing is wrong with me. However, I need to talk to you and Buffy, along with Willow. Can you get Buffy up and give Willow a call? Tell her that I'll come to her home and drive her to your house. No, it cannot wait, I'm afraid. Very well, goodbye."

Giles was dressed and out the door within two minutes of getting off the phone. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation, but he knew it was the right thing to do, regardless of his discomfort.


	28. Chapter 28

Rarely is a spur of the moment meeting at 3 in the morning a fun thing, and this one was no exception. Giles had called and awakened the Summers women, and stopped by to pick Willow up as she snuck out of her house. They reached Revello Drive and were greeted by Joyce Summers and a cup of coffee for each of them. Gathering around the dining room table, Giles began discussing recent events.

"Xander called me an hour ago, having just survived an attack by the Watcher's Council's Special Operations Group."

The women's collective shock allowed Giles to continue. "No one was hurt, at least none of our people. It appears, though, that the Council's team was decimated. Three men dead, one injured. Derek and Wesley were able to gain an idea of what's been happening at Council Headquarters from the survivor. There are political maneuvers going on, and someone decided to keep the contract on Faith and Wesley valid, and turned the SOG loose on them."

Joyce was the first one to regain her composure. "What happened? How did they find out where Faith and Wesley were?"

"Joyce, these men are very good at their jobs. It's most likely a combination of skill and good fortune. If Derek had not had trouble sleeping after their welcome home gathering, I dare say we would not have the opportunity for reconciliation. However, Xander pointed out, after Derek's interrogation of the surviving member of the SOG, that if there is a power play going on, then someone might have a desire to reassert the Council's dominance over the Slayer. As such, they might send the Special Operations Group to Sunnydale."

Buffy exploded. "Giles, we've gotta get ready for this! Those guys were nuts! If they're coming out here, how can we stop them? They're human, how can I fight them? Can they really come out here and just get us to do whatever they want us to?"

Willow was strangely silent. Her world had been rocked over the last few days, and this was too much. She managed to stammer out, "Is Xander, I mean, is everyone OK out there?"

Giles smiled a bit at the young redhead. "Yes, Willow, everyone is fine. Derek's inability to sleep turned out to give them enough of a warning to let them prepare and counter the attack. Buffy, as to your question, your concerns are valid. In fact, the others are equally concerned about our wellbeing. Derek urged Xander to get in touch with us, to give us a warning, but also to extend to us an opportunity."

"Rupert, what opportunity are they offering?" Giles was not surprised to note that Joyce was trying to push the conversation forward as a way to help the girls see the need for more help.

"Xander told me that Wesley and Derek were considering inviting us out to Idaho later this summer. They had hoped that by opening up their lives to us that we could all work through the trust issues that the last year had revealed. I must admit, the gesture is incredibly honest, and had the summer progressed normally, it would have been well received. However, they want us to come out there immediately."

Willow's eyes grew twice as large as they normally were. Buffy just sat, dumbfounded. No one spoke for nearly a minute. Finally, Joyce broke the silence.

"Rupert, what do you think about going out there?"

"Joyce, I must admit, their idea has merit. Although the timing is not ideal in as much as the critical nature of the threat, going out to Idaho would give us time to get to know the real Faith and Wesley, not to mention Derek. We could also work together to make sure that if the SOG attacks, that we are properly trained and equipped. I think we should prepare to head out to Idaho immediately. I told Derek that I would contact him once we'd discussed the matter and came to a conclusion."

Joyce nodded and looked at her daughter and Willow. "Girls, get ready to go to Idaho." Giles went to call Derek as Joyce continued. "Willow, should I call your parents? We can tell them that something happened to Xander, and that we're all going to visit him."

Willow shook her head. "They left earlier this, well, yesterday afternoon, on some three week safari in Africa. I'll just need to pack a few things."

Giles just got off of the phone and walked back into the dining room. "Derek advised us to get moving now. Willow, is there anything at your house without which you can't live?" Willow shook her head. "Good, we'll stop and replace personal items when we're on the road, once the sun comes up. Derek assured me that he could get us the clothes we need once we got to Idaho, and that it would actually work out better that way for us, since we'd have clothes like everyone else, which would help us blend in, should we need to stay for an extended period of time."

Just as Giles was talking, the doorbell rang. Willow yelped, Joyce nearly jumped out of her chair, partly because of the bell and partly because of Willow, and Buffy raced to the door, Giles close behind her. As she looked through the glass at the top of the door, Buffy was stunned.

"It's Angel."

Opening the door, Buffy nearly threw herself into the arms of her love. However, Giles grabbed her by the arm. "Buffy, wait."

Angel understood Giles' hesitation. "I just got off of the phone with a contact of mine at the hospital. Faith's missing; she disappeared from the hospital with some guy. I couldn't leave, not when Faith's a threat, so I turned around."

Joyce and Willow joined Buffy and Giles at the front door. Joyce, looking a bit irritated, spoke first.

"Angel. Nice to see you," she said through a facial expression which said that she was anything but pleased to see the vampire.

"Mrs. Summers, I'm really sorry to do this, but I couldn't just leave while there was a possibility that Faith could be on the loose. Wait, it's 3 AM; why are you all here, and awake?"

Buffy smiled a bit. "Funny thing about that. You're a little late to the game, Angel. Come in and sit down. We'll get you up to speed. But you're going to have to listen fast; we're on the way out of town."

Angel was confused as he entered the house. "What do you mean? I don't get it." Buffy greeted his entry with a hug, but nothing more.

Joyce sighed and spoke to the vampire. "Come in off of the porch, Angel. Like Buffy said, we don't have time to sit you down and walk you through this, but I guess you're part of the trip now." Turning to Giles, Joyce said, "Rupert, can you call Derek and tell him we have another visitor?"

"Yes, I'll go do that." Giles wasn't happy that Angel had come back, but he understood the vampire's concern.

Twenty minutes later, Angel, while educated on the recent events, was still confused. "And you say she'd been undercover the entire time? Wesley, too, and that there was some other guy? Hmm, that explains the unfamiliar scents I'd pick up from time to time." Buffy smiled as she packed.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Hey, at least I got college paid for, right?"

Angel smiled as he helped Buffy get her bag downstairs. As Buffy went back upstairs for her toiletries, Angel walked into the kitchen to see Joyce packing up some food for the trip. Sensing the irritation, Angel wanted to offer an explanation.

"Mrs. Summers…" he began.

Joyce interrupted him. "Please, Angel, don't 'Mrs. Summers' me," she said in a calm but serious manner. "We've been through too much in the last year or so to stick with the formalities. Call me Joyce from now on. Angel, I know about your relationship with my daughter, and I know that you meant to leave. I don't have to like this situation; frankly, I think that sometimes Buffy can become short sighted when it comes to you. However, if the last three days or so is any indicator, we all have some growing to do, myself included. Now, we are all on the same page, so I think it's time that you and I get on the same page. We're going to Idaho to try to avoid, or maybe train for, an attack by a faction within the Watcher's Council. I suspect that you're probably a target for that faction, too, so you are welcome to come with us. But you need to understand that we are all going to be working on handling things differently than we did over the past few years, and that means we're going to be open and honest with each other. So consider this me being open and honest with you. I don't expect secrets from either of you, Angel. If you want to try to give Buffy a normal life, then you need to treat your relationship with her like an adult would, and that means being honest and up front with her, not to mention encouraging her to do the same. Show me you can do that, Angel, and you will have my blessing, but show me that you can't do it, and I'll make your life short and miserable. That's my promise to you, as Buffy's mother."

Angel took all of this in. He'd been wondering how this conversation would go, but he had to admit, this wasn't what he expected. He'd expected fireworks and bluster, but what he got was Joyce's firm commitment to her daughter. She was protective without being smothering, and Angel saw that indeed, things were different, even though he'd only been gone for a few days.

"Joyce, I don't have a problem with that. It sounds like things are changing for the better, and I don't want to mess that up for anyone, much less Buffy. I thought that by leaving I could help give Buffy a normal life, but once I heard about the Faith situation, I couldn't avoid coming back to try to protect her."

"I understand, Angel, more than you might think. I just want Buffy to be able to work through what happened this year. Please, if you do love her like you say, you'll help her do that."

Angel nodded, but before he could speak, Buffy walked in. "Laying down the law, Mom?" she said, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face.

"Well, that horse has left the barn, young lady, but since I had the chance to talk to Angel, I wanted him to know how I felt. We are being honest with each other, right? Well, he needs to know that I'm concerned about my young daughter's heart, and I always will be."

What could have become incredibly awkward and frustrating turned out to be a tender moment between a mother and daughter. Buffy moved to give her mom a hug. "Thanks, Mom. OK, are we ready?"

Giles walked into the room. "We're all set. I spoke to Derek, and he's fine with Angel coming along."

"Does he know I'm a vampire?"

Giles nodded. "Yes, and he said that it would be alright with him, but that there were some of his friends that would be a tad suspicious of you, but they wouldn't make it a big deal if you wouldn't. He did ask if you could get by with animal blood? There isn't a hospital close by, and even if it was close, he didn't have the contacts to help you out. I told him you'd be fine with animal blood."

"No problem. Thanks for thinking about that."

"Yes. Alright, it's time to go. Angel, grab some bags, and we'll head to the cars."

Angel stopped Giles. "Are we taking two cars?"

"Yes, mine and Joyce's."

Angel thought for a moment. "Why don't we leave them here? If someone is tracking you, then they'd probably know your cars. No one knows mine; I kept it in storage, so it's not something that anyone has seen in Sunnydale."

Giles replied, "That's a good idea. Let's get everything into Angel's car and get on the road."


	29. Chapter 29

**_Author's Note: _**This and the previous chapter was longer than normal to accommodate some dialogue. These will be foundational for a few issues later and I didn't feel comfortable breaking them up differently.

While Giles was gathering everyone together for their conversation, Derek was having meetings of his own. He got back on the phone and called Wendell. He apologized to the man for the time of the call, and continued.

"Wendell, I need the fellas out here." Wendell knew who Derek needed. The men whom Derek trained and with whom he operated. "You, too. A four-man squad just hit us, and I think we need some added security. Yeah, you'll need some firepower. I don't have enough on hand for everyone. OK, just come on up the driveway and tap the horn twice. Good. Thanks, Wendell. No, we're alright, just tell Lois and Josie we weren't hurt. Yeah, alright, bye."

Derek turned to Wesley. "We'll have some help on the way. That way we can get some rest, then get up and get moving. Once Giles and the others get out here, we're going to have to double up on the rooms, so we'll need to get things ready, repair and logistics-wise. For now though, get the others and let's debrief."

Ten minutes later, the four fighters were sitting in the living room, weapons reloaded and ready, positioned so that each person could watch the back of the other. Derek opened the conversation.

"Alright, y'all. I want to sit down and talk a bit about what just happened. We just killed three people, and that's something that can eat at a person. So, we'll do this just like Wes and I used to do back in the day. We'll discuss, from our own perspectives, what went down and why we acted like we did. Afterwards, we'll talk more about how each of us felt about what happened."

Xander was stunned by this, as he had never talked about the things that the Scoobies did when they were out on patrol. He said nothing at first, letting the more experienced Derek and Wes lead the way.

Derek started off. "Well, I saw the guys coming up the front yard. I got y'all up and moving just in time. Wes and I hit the two guys at the front door just as they came through. I'm pretty sure that I hit both of them, since I had the twelve gauge, but I think that Wes got one of the guys, too."

Wes chimed in. "Yes, I hit the first man in the top of his chest, near his neck. I saw buckshot hit both of the men, so I know you hit both."

"Yeah, in all, our work was done pretty quickly. Faith, what happened in the back?"

Faith thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and began. "Well, I had zero time to think. That guy hit the door and broke through. I took the machete and attacked his hands, since they were holding the gun. I gotta be honest, I didn't expect to cut off both of his hands." She paused for a minute, then went on. "Anyway, he started screaming, but tried to jump me, no hands and all. I dropped the machete in the scramble and he basically fell into the knife I found next to the machete. He stopped fighting me, and I pulled the blade to the side and then out, and he fell. He didn't get up, so I yelled to see if you guys needed help."

While Faith was talking, Wes and Derek were noting her reaction to retelling the story. They saw that she was a bit on edge, but that was to be expected. However, her voice was strong as she retold the story, and she didn't pause or break down, emotionally.

Derek nodded, noting that Faith had finished her story. "How do you feel about killing a human?"

Faith looked at Derek, searching for the right words. "You know, I would've thought it would be harder. I always thought that I'd hesitate if I ever fought a human being, but in the heat of the moment, it was pretty easy."

Xander worried about hearing Faith talk so nonchalantly about killing the Watcher SOG member. However, he wanted to give Wes and Derek time to respond.

"The first person I ever killed was a 12 year old boy." Derek replied to Faith's admission. "Wes and I were doing a job in Vietnam. There were French nuns who were taken hostage, and there was a Legion team sent to do the actual rescue. France has a long history in Vietnam and the Legion has always had a bit of a score to settle with them. Wes and I were providing overwatch and sniper support for them. We were there, in reality, because there were reports that the leader of the group was kidnapping local kids and brainwashing them with some mystical concoction to make them child soldiers. Apparently he didn't have time to simply force them and train them; the potion made the brainwashing more long-lasting than any conditioning would be.

The Legion wanted the nuns back, of course, but our mission, after the rescue team left, was to stay behind and track the supernatural elements down and handle those. Anyway, the team hit the compound and got the nuns out. I think there were about 20 men in the camp, and the REP guys just cut them all down. As they were heading out of the camp, Wes and I saw three kids coming out of a building, guns drawn. Ten seconds later, the three kids were dead. The REP guys never saw the kids, and since my weapon was suppressed, no one heard anything. We got in there, found some intel, and left."

Derek looked at Faith pointedly. "It's never the actual moment that gets people. For me, I knew my shots were the right ones. After all, I'd been trained that way, and my actions kept my people alive to finish their mission. It was only after we got back that it started to bother me. I couldn't really put my finger on what changed; I just got irritated more quickly, I had problems falling asleep, and I found that people just pissed me off. Wes saw what was happening, and we talked it out. It was my mind's post-traumatic stress response to the mission. The point is that your mind will try to process what you've experienced, and at times, that means you become hyper-introverted and isolated. Faith, my concern for you is that you don't hold things in, trying to be tough. We all know you're tough so don't try to hide behind that. You come to us, any of the three of us, if you start feeling out of sorts. I don't know how that'll look for you, but you will. If we see things starting like that, we'll all come together and talk it out, or you can just come to one of us. If it's too much for one of us, we'll get together and work it out, alright?"

Faith nodded and grinned. "You gonna get all 'Oprah' on me?"

Wes smiled. "Yes, and we'll all sit around and sing 'Kumbaya' later." Turning to Xander, he asked the young man to talk about what he saw.

"Well, things happened so fast. I didn't actually do anything. There was only one guy, and I figured I'd just get in the way if I tried to help Faith."

Wes nodded. "How do you feel about Faith killing that man?"

"I'm grateful. Honestly, I thought she'd killed two people for so long, I didn't think too much of it, at the time. I was shocked by how bloody it all was, though. With vampires, there's no blood, and with demons, it's just some gross colored fluid. But this guy bled like I would, like I have. That got to me a little."

Even though Xander didn't actually do anything during the fight, Wes was concerned about how Xander seemed to be shaking and wringing his hands. "Xander, what is it?"

The young boy broke down, surprising everyone by crying steadily for nearly a minute. Faith moved to hold Xander, and the two shook together as Xander's sobs wracked his body. Once he calmed down, he spoke.

"Sorry," he said, wiping his face on his shirt. "It's just that…" He stopped, worrying that if he started talking, the sobs would return.

Derek spoke up, encouraging him. "Take your time, Xander. We're not going anywhere."

After a moment, Xander spoke. "I killed my best friend, Jesse. He'd been turned, and had come back to the Bronze to feed and help the Master rise. I mean, I know it wasn't really Jesse; that's what Giles had reminded me, but it _was_ Jesse, to me. No one's ever talked to me about it, not Willow, no one. Willow knew Jesse as long as me, and she never talks about him being gone! It makes me so damned angry, but it just seems like nothing ever happened to her! I hate it! I hate that no one talks to anyone! And we wonder why no one trusts anyone, why so many stupid things happen to us? Dammit!"

Derek gave the boy time to get more things off of his chest. He'd counseled enough people to know that sometimes, people just need to yell a bit, get things out of their system, and then they'd be ready to talk about their problems. With Xander, Derek understood that there were many more problems than just the Scooby situation. The boy had come from an alcoholic home, and that brought with it trust issues, relationship problems, and post-traumatic stress concerns.

"Xander, I'm sorry that you grew up the way you did."

Xander looked at Derek like he had grown a third arm. "What do you mean?"

Derek smiled a bit. "Remember, I was your guardian angel for a time. I know your home life. I can relate to some of it, since my childhood was tough in similar ways. You were consistently betrayed by people you should have been able to trust. As a result of that, whether you realized it or not, you've craved that trusting relationship you never had, and you wanted a healthy relationship from the Scoobies that you didn't get from your parents. I can certainly relate to that, X. You feel pretty alone most of the time, don't you?"

Xander nodded, and Derek went on. "Yeah, I do, too, sometimes. The difference between you and me is that I was given, through the relationship I had with my wife and her family, an example of how really functional, healthy relationships should work. You never got that, and so much of what you feel now in the way of anger is because of not having what you know you need in life, namely real, trust based relationships."

Faith looked over to Xander, still holding him close. "Xander, I was the same way. Diana helped me see that some of the things that happened in my life were from me wanting good things for myself, but looking for them in the wrong place. I think you're probably the same as me."

Xander gave this some thought. He'd never really considered how his parents and their problems rubbed off on how he saw the Scoobies. "You know, I hadn't realized what my parents didn't give me. I just blew it off and moved on."

Derek grinned. "Yeah, I did, too, but once I was around people who didn't act that way, I had some problems. See, us dysfunctional kids just assume that everyone acts the way that they people in our lives acted, but that's not the case. So, when well-adjusted folks come into our lives, we don't really know how to act. It takes time, but I think you'll find that you'll feel better about issue if you just talk to people about the things you experience and not bottle them up. Give it some time. You won't feel comfortable opening up to everyone, but I think Faith will probably help you with that."

Faith smiled as she talked to Xander. "Yeah, Xan, please come to me, if not Derek and Wes. I've been there before, and I know when you need your ass kicked and when you just need a hug."

Wes rolled his eyes. "What is it with you? Ahh, you're like a pre-teen girl now."

The conversation got decidedly lighter at this point, and plans were made for the people who were on the way, both Wendell and his people, as well as the Scoobies.


	30. Chapter 30

**_Author's note: _**This chapter's short due to how it was originally written. The next chapter's longer for the same reason. It seemed easier to upload here in this way.

The trip up to Idaho was stressful. Each person, save for Buffy, out of respect for everyone's health, took turns driving and acting as lookouts. Derek had given Giles detailed instructions regarding how to get to his home, and after nearly two-thirds of a day of driving, breaks included, the Scoobies arrived at Derek's home, just after sundown.

As they pulled up to the mailbox and gate that marked Derek's property, they noticed two men sitting in a pickup truck on the side of the road. Giles had called ahead to let Derek know that they had been coming, so one of the men spoke from the passenger side of the truck, through his open window.

"You the Scoobies?"

It seemed like a ridiculous question but Giles simply said, "Yes."

The man got out of the truck, unlocked the gate, and motioned the car past. Giles noticed the other man on a phone, probably calling ahead to let someone know that they were here. Giles turned onto the gravel driveway, following it up to the house. As he drove, Angel spoke.

"Giles, there are men out here in the woods."

Buffy answered him. "Well, they were just attacked, remember? This Derek guy lives here; he probably has some friends helping out."

No one else spoke, and the group reached the house. They got out of the car, stretching and unloading bags. As they did that, Xander led the charge to welcome his friends. Wes, Faith, and Derek were a bit slower, but walked off of the porch to help the Scoobies unpack.

Xander walked up to Willow first, grabbing her and giving her a big hug. "Hey, Wil, I'm glad you came out."

Xander's welcome was more than the young redhead could bear, and all of the stress she'd been feeling bled away. Willow broke down in her friend's arms, crying and hugging Xander for all she was worth.

"Xander, I've been so worried! I was scared you'd hate me, hate all of us!"

Xander smiled and replied to her friend. "Wil, come on, don't worry about that. We're good; we'll get through all of this together." He held his friend for a moment or two, and then he reached over for Buffy.

"Hey, Buff. Good to see you. You too, Mrs. Summers."

Joyce smiled as she gave Xander a quick hug and peck on the cheek. "It's good to see you, Xander. I'm glad you're OK."

Xander stiffened a bit as he noticed Angel lingering behind everyone. "Angel."

Buffy answered him before Angel, who looked more jittery than usual, could say anything. "He came back once he got word that Faith was out of the hospital. He wanted to come back and help out."

Xander looked like he didn't buy it, but kept his mouth shut. Faith, who had by this point had made it to the group, broke the awkward silence.

"Hey, B. Look, I just want to tell you that I'm sorry that…"

She never got the chance to finish the sentence. Buffy quickly hugged Faith tightly like they had always been family.

"Faith, stop. I'm the one who's sorry. You were doing your job and I didn't help when I could've and should've."

The entire group, both the Scoobies and non-Scoobies, were touched by the two Slayers' affection for each other. After a moment letting the two warriors embrace, Derek spoke up.

"OK, first off, welcome to my home. I'm Derek James. Sorry I didn't have the opportunity to introduce myself properly while we were in Sunnydale, but it just couldn't happen. Come on in, we'll grab your bags and get you set up. I only have 3 bedrooms, so we'll have to share space. Also, given recent events, some friends of mine have taken up residence on the property, so we'll be feeding them, too. I'm sure you all understand."

With that, bags were grabbed and people made their way inside. Faith and Willow did not speak, but Faith kept an eye on Willow from a distance. She seemed overwhelmed by the whole situation, so Faith decided not to press things, at least right away.

Derek held the screen door open as the others walked inside. When Angel walked by, the two men stared at each other. Angel didn't know what was off about the man, but for some reason, he didn't care for Derek.

"Go on in, Angel. Something on your mind?" Derek said, a hint of whimsy in his voice.

Angel couldn't put his finger on what the problem was, so he merely shook his head and said, "No, it's nothing," and walked into the house. Derek chuckled, having a good idea what was bothering the vampire, but he just didn't want to share, at that point. _Better to have fun with that later_, Derek thought, walking inside behind Angel.


	31. Chapter 31

Once everyone was inside, Derek asked if anyone wanted anything. No one wanted anything, so Derek addressed everyone. He noticed that people were looking around, taking note of the damage that had been recently repaired.

"Alright, I'm sorry that the circumstances wouldn't allow for an easier meeting, but such is life. This is my home and I'm glad you're here, even though the timing isn't good. As you know, we were attacked yesterday by an element of the Watcher's Council that was unconvinced of Faith and Wesley's status. It appears that the Watcher's Council my be experiencing a bit of political turbulence and we're caught in the middle. We had hoped to invite you out here later in the summer, after we'd had some time to relax and reconnect with one another. However, we thought that it would be better to bring you out here now, so that if things got worse, you'd be up to speed and prepared."

Angel didn't appear convinced as to the legitimacy of the circumstances. "Who exactly are you? Are we supposed to believe that you just popped up out of nowhere to look out for us? How do we know that this attack was because of Faith and Wesley, and not you?"

Everyone was taken aback by Angel's unannounced hostility. Derek was a bit irritated, but managed to relax and answered him.

"Well, Angel, I'll tell you. We know that the attack was from the Watcher's Council, at least a part of it, because the lone survivor told us. He also told us that the orders were the original ones that sent them to Sunnydale to begin with. We patched the survivor up, bagged up his three dead buddies, and shipped them back to the Council. We also know that Travers had to patch together a coalition to make the changes he made for us all, but there apparently is a small contingency of Council members who want a return to the old days, and are willing to break up the Council to see their goals achieved. They are willing to see three of their shock troops killed, and one wounded, simply to achieve an objective, so I think that the threat is real enough to be taken seriously."

Derek looked hard at the vampire. "Now that I've got your attention," he turned to everyone, "all of you, let me, in the interest of full disclosure, clear the air. You're jittery and anxious, Angel, and you can't figure out why. I'm going to tell you why, vampire. Your demon knows what I am, and it doesn't like it. You see Angel, I'm an ordained minister. We've found," Derek pointed to Faith and Wesley, "that demons, vampires, and all other sorts of creepy-crawlies tend to get spooked by a preacher. Sometimes with dangerous but entertaining consequences, but the fact is that you're experiencing a tug of war inside, and that's why. Sorry."

While Derek didn't appear too upset, he did seem sympathetic to Angel… a bit, anyway.

Buffy was the first one to react. "Derek, what can we do? They're the Council, and the guys they sent were humans? I can't fight them. I'll kill them."

Answering before Derek, Wesley showed a bit of an edge. "Yes, they are, technically, part of the Watcher's Council, but in practice, they are no different than the demons we fight. They are perfectly willing to sacrifice human life, by way of killing people with whom they disagree, and that makes them no better than demons. As to your being unable to fight them for fear of killing them, that is your choice, not your calling. You are called to protect humanity from vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. It is naïve and reckless to think that your enemies will always look different than the humans you protect. This isn't a game, Buffy, and it's not a mental exercise. This is real life and you all," he turned to look with purpose at all of the Scoobies, "had better get it through your heads that you will, most likely, be called upon to do hard things."

He paused. "Now you'd better think long and hard about the lengths to which you are willing to go. The question isn't, 'Can I fight humans?', it's, 'How far will I go to protect innocent life?', because that's what's at stake here. Your mother, Willow, Oz, Giles, all of us, did nothing other than what was necessary to win the day and protect innocent life. These men, if you can call them that, decided that they didn't like being left out of the party, and so they sent those men to kill us to achieve their goals of being in power. Whatever else happens, those are the facts, and nothing they do will change them, Buffy, so figure out now if you're willing to protect innocents."

Wesley's speech was met with silence for the better part of two minutes. Each person was considering his words carefully. Regardless of the things they'd done in the past, none of the Scoobies had had to fight a human enemy of this magnitude.

"Wesley," Joyce spoke, breaking the silence, "do you think that we'll be attacked again? I mean, how many men are these Council members willing to send?"

Wesley looked at Mrs. Summers and said, "Joyce, I have to tell you, and I'm sure that Rupert will vouch for this, if the Council is going through a power struggle, then many of the men I expect are fighting Travers have always been intimately involved in the training and equipping of the Special Operations Group. They will know their capabilities and their limitations, such as they are. If they are willing to be this brazen, I dare say that uniting the two groups and coming up with a plan is the right move."

Giles concurred. "I agree with Wesley. The simple fact is that the Council, or even elements of it, have a vast amount of resources, and they are always training members of the SOG to perform various activities. It is the SOG that resides in hotspots, supervises sensitive areas, and does many tasks that the Slayer cannot do, by the nature of her singular calling. In this regard, Buffy, you are correct, in that human enemies are not your primary target. However, and I'm just realizing this, it has always been the Council who has determined the Slayer's role in our fight, so perhaps they have handcuffed you in your training to focus on non-human threats. This could have been to always give them the upper hand when it came to controlling the Slayer. If they, through the SOG, could face a human threat while the Slayer, was conditioned not to do so, they could exert a certain control over her. It's pretty insidious, and I, for one, am glad that things seem to be changing, although it does make our lives difficult, for now."

Derek spoke to some of Joyce's fears. "Mrs. Summers, I made it clear to the survivor, both before and after I removed the bullet from him, that the more assets they sent, the more I'd send back to them. However, as is often the case, I suspect we haven't seen the last of these zealots. My hope, albeit a bit of a pipe dream, is that Travers is able to overcome this power play quickly and get control over these elements. I don't relish the killing, no matter how much someone might deserve it."

Willow was unimpressed. "What about, 'Thou shalt not kill?' Doesn't that matter to you at all?"

"Willow…" Buffy said, trying to calm her friend down.

Derek looked at the young redhead. "Do you _really_ want to do this now, Willow? Make no mistake about it, young lady, I'm a killer, trained well by better men than me. But I'm no murderer, I don't slaughter innocent people. This killing I do, the burden I bear, is to protect innocent lives. You want to play the theological game with me, fine, we can dance that dance later. Right now, I'm in the business of keeping all of our asses alive. So how about you stow that crap and save it for later? Dang, where was I? Look, I'm going for a water. Anyone else want one?" Two hands went into the air and Derek headed for the kitchen.

As he walked Derek muttered something in French under his breath as he walked into the kitchen and Wesley smiled and answered in the same language. No one, save for Giles and Joyce, understood what was said, and Giles asked, "What do he mean, 'Just as bad as that guy on the farm'? And why did you disagree?"

Wesley smiled and answered, "Derek was comparing this most recent exchange with ones we heard from a fellow Legion recruit during our training. He was from Belgium and couldn't seem to stop asking inane questions that got us all punished with extra exercise. I said that this wasn't that bad as we haven't been dropped for pushups or forced to run more… yet."

Faith couldn't help but hide a smile. She'd long been tired of Willow's temper tantrums, and she was grateful to Derek for shutting the girl's mouth. One of the things that drove Faith nuts was how scatter brained Willow could be, how hyper-emotional and reckless. It appeared that the others had developed a thick skin where it came to Willow, one that Faith hadn't developed.

"I see. I do suggest that everyone just relax," Giles said, hoping to calm raw nerves. "Willow, let's remember that we're on the same side here, regardless of what we once thought. And Derek does make a good point, we need to focus on the primary goal, which is to stay alive and overcome this crisis." This seemed to calm everyone, except for the still agitated Angel.

"Look, it's late, and you all have to be pretty worn out. Why don't we crash for the night and get a fresh start in the morning?" Derek tried to help everyone relax, and he was irritated with himself that he got diverted with Willow. Seeing people's eyes getting heavy, he offered his suggestions for bunk arrangements.

"I suggest Willow and Buffy sharing the master bedroom, Joyce and Faith in one room, and Xander and Giles in the third room. Angel, Wes, and I will share some space in the living room. Angel, you OK with that?"

Angel nodded, trying his best to put his irritation aside. "What about standing watch? Do your people need a break?"

Derek shook his head. "No, they've got their own rotation for standing guard. In about a half hour, the shift rotating off will come in for some food, once they've been relieved. The overnight shift will be fine on their own; your presence out there would likely distract them, frankly. They're more suspicious of you than anything else so it's better if you stick around the homestead. Thanks, though."

Derek could see in Buffy's face that the potential conflict between him and Angel was stressing her out, and he wanted to try to get past that. He also saw that even Buffy was getting tired of Willow, but he figured he'd let the girls themselves get through that.

Once Derek gave the sleeping assignments, everyone seemed to be revitalized, at least to the point of getting their bags and getting to bed. Goodnights were exchanged and each group moved to get to their bedrooms and get some much-needed rest.


	32. Chapter 32

Angel could not rest. The vampire had tried to relax himself, using some of the meditation techniques he'd learned over the last century or so, but nothing worked. He tossed and turned on the sofa he'd been given, occasionally glancing over at Wesley and Derek, who slept on cots Derek had fished out of his basement.

"Angel, can I get you something?" Derek's words pierced the darkness. He didn't move, but it was obvious that the man was awake. Turning over in his cot, Derek swung his legs over his cot and stood up.

"Come with me, let's go out back and talk."

Angel got up and grabbed his coat, wondering what the man had in mind. He was thinking that maybe Derek was going to give him some kind of lecture, given the revelation earlier as to the man's status as a preacher. Derek quietly opened his closet door and removed a small bag, and went to the back door. The two men walked out onto the back porch, and Derek spoke.

"Angel, I know this must be tough on you, being out here in a new place, under these circumstances. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get in touch with you during this whole thing to let you know about Faith. Before we go any further, though, I wanted to say, privately, that I really appreciate how you reached out to her, when you thought she'd gone over the edge. I couldn't do much during that time period for her, since it was so tricky, but I wanted to tell you, man to man, that I'm grateful, and that it was a good thing you did."

Angel looked at the man for a moment and nodded. "I know what happens when people lose control. I wanted to keep Faith from that. I have to admit, I didn't expect you to say that. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all of this."

Derek nodded and smiled a bit. "Yeah, you were probably expecting the big speech about how evil you are and how much you aren't welcome. If you'd like I have some fine speeches prepared, full of fire and brimstone. One has lepers." Angel smiled some, and Derek went on.

"The truth is, Angel, I don't think you're a threat to us, not you, anyway. I know your history. I know your family background. You may have been a goof off in the past, certainly a sinner, in the theological context, but no different than any other sinner who ever walked the earth. The demon you wrestle with on the inside, that's another story. The problem we face right now is that your demon doesn't know its place. I'm a new threat to it, more so because of being a pastor. So here's what I propose. Why don't you and I go a few rounds?"

Angel was taken aback. "What?"

"You heard me right. The demon inside you is fighting to get a piece of me. We've seen it before, Angel, with comedic results. I'll tell the story another time. Demons seem to be attracted, in the hostile sense, to preachers. I don't fully understand it, because they didn't teach that in seminary. I've asked around, quietly, and the only thing we've come up with is that the vows I took set me apart not only by God's standards but by the devil's, too. I don't know, man; I do what I do and I don't worry about why a demon reveals itself to me, just that it needs to be dealt with. So what I'm offering is a bit of peace, for you, anyway."

"Angel, if we don't do this here and now, this is what I suspect will happen. The demon will sulk and wait for an opportunity to get a shot at me. I have no doubt that this will crop up at the worst possible time, so I'm suggesting that we just hash it out now, hand to hand, no weapons, until one of us drops. The way I figure it, maybe this will help you realize that you can control that demon, rather than try to fight it. You need to know that you're strong enough emotionally to overcome its influence. I've talked with Wes about this and it seems like many in our line of work seem to view demons as these nearly all-powerful things. But it's been our experience that they aren't. I don't know who got you into this fight but I doubt they trained you in how mindset effects performance."

"Derek, I don't think you really want to do this. I mean, I don't want to brag, but I've been around the block a time or two, plus, you know, the vampire thing."

Derek smiled a warm smile. "Angel, this isn't my first rodeo, my man. Just before I got to Sunnydale with Wes, I took a brief trip to South America, where I ran into some friends of yours." Reaching over to the table where he'd placed the item he'd brought out with him, Derek asked the vampire, "Recognize this?"

Angel spied the small doll sitting on the table. "That's Miss Edith. But…"

"Yeah."

The air was thick with emotion as Angel spoke. He didn't care for the crazed former nun for whom he was responsible, but family was still family, no matter how dysfunctional it was.

"What did you do?"

Derek chose his words carefully. "I picked up Spike's trail from one of my Legion buddies down in Guatemala, a guy who'd been in the fight for a while. I'd given him pictures of Spike and Drusilla along with a few others of the "Most Wanted." He didn't see Drusilla, so I didn't know they were together until I got down there. I figured if Spike was down there then the trip was worth it; I hadn't planned on both of them, but I had it in the back of my mind that I might have to fight them both.

Anyway, I found their hide and set up an observation post. It was a tense four days, let me tell you, but I managed to get the intelligence I needed, then I made my plan to go in the next day at about noon."

"I set charges on the windows that I blew just before I hit the front door. I wanted maximum daylight on my side. Spike wasn't there; I found out later from my guy that they'd had a falling out shortly before I set up my OP. I dusted 6 vampires, and was left with Drusilla. She'd been just standing there, watching the fight as I went from room to room. It was weird, but whatever, I had more than enough threats facing me. Once it was just the two of us, she smiled that Cheshire cat smile and said, 'So the shepherd comes to guard his sheep.' We just stood there for a moment, and I nodded. I could feel that pull that I'd only heard about with her, but I was able to fight through it and move forward."

"How did you, one guy, get through 6 vampires and Drusilla? And why didn't you use your friend as backup?"

"My friend lost a leg in combat; he's a guy who's great for intel and support but his combat days are behind him. Although, I did have to talk him out of gearing up with me; that's the Legionnaire in him. As for the vamps, you don't know ballistics tables, do you? Firearms are not only a powerful equalizer on humans, but they're also valuable on vampires. Sure, the bullets don't kill the way they would on humans, but sometimes they do. Actually, I went in with .45 caliber pistols and an AK, along with some knives, a couple of stakes, and flash-bang grenades. Picking up the hardware was easy in South America. Four of the vamps died from headshots, because the bullets hit like a jackhammer and expand with enough energy to act like a decapitation. The others went down and got finished off with stakes to the heart. Drusilla, though, was another story."

"What do you mean?" Angel could not believe what he was hearing. He'd seen how brutal Dru could be; he'd made her that way when he was Angelus so the memory was fresh in his mind. That this one man, this human, could have finished her off, after running a gauntlet of 6 vamps, was very hard to believe.

"Well, she started swaying and looking deep into my eyes, trying to put me under her power. I knew that was coming, so I threw my AK at her feet and grabbed a pistol. I glanced away for a second, and that was enough to break the trance I felt coming on. I put 2 rounds in her chest and handled the rest the way you'd normally handle a vampire.

I took Miss Edith as a psychological move; I figured it'd be good to establish some credentials if and when I tracked Spike down, I just didn't know it'd be you to whom I'd show it."

There was a pause as Angel responded to Derek's story. "I can't believe she's gone. I mean, after I got my soul, I wasn't really happy she was around, but, I don't know, it's weird that I'm a little sad."

"Well, family's family. I don't know that I'd say, 'Sorry for your loss,' but the simple fact is that family can make a person feel funny things, things they'd normally overlook or take for granted. My point in telling you this story isn't to impress or intimidate you, but I tell you so that you'll know that I can hold my own in a fight. Don't think that just because I'm not armed that this will be a cakewalk for you."

Angel thought for a moment. He could use a good fight and it seemed like Derek's offer might actually be helpful. Besides, he really wanted to let off some frustration without consequence.

Finally, he nodded. "OK, let's do this."


	33. Chapter 33

Angel smiled. "Well, you certainly make an impression. You want to do this now?"

Derek nodded. "Yep. Let me call Wendell so he can call off the boys and keep them from dusting you, thinking we're fighting to the death." He reached into his pocket for his phone, dialed a number, and spoke.

"Wendell? Yeah, it's me. Listen, Angel and I are working something out, so if the guys here some bumping around, don't sweat it. I'll call you when we've worked it out, OK? Yeah, no sweat, I'll talk to them about it. Later."

"OK, that potential snag is solved. Let's head to the yard." The two men walked into the yard, each loosening up and taking off outer layers of clothes. Both men were down to pants and shoes, standing shirtless in the cool Idaho air.

Angel looked over at his opponent. Derek's chest was broad and it was obvious that the man took his training seriously. He could also see some faint, and some not so faint, scarring over Derek's upper body. Clearly, Derek wasn't someone who shied away from getting his hands dirty. He could feel his demon surging at the chance to taste the preacher's blood but he worked to keep that bloodlust in check.

The two men circled one another, each analyzing the other for potential areas of weakness. Both men had been in fights before, so neither wanted to give an inch to their opponent. Angel, for his part, appreciated Derek's candor and openness, even though the demon inside of him wanted the man's blood.

Derek closed the gap, shooting for Angel's legs to execute a double leg takedown. Angel, not used to a low level attack, had no choice but to go to the ground, trying to use momentum to flip Derek off of him. Derek was having none of it, though, and Angel found himself with Derek on top of him, looking for chances to rain blows down on Angel's face or finish him another way. Angel countered by pushing Derek off of him with his arms, hoping that Derek would take the bait.

Derek grabbed Angel by the wrists and began to spin into an armbar. Angel rolled over, countering the move, but Derek expected that and spun quickly onto his stomach, trying to keep the armbar position as Angel rolled. He could not keep the position, given Angel's quickness and experience, and the vampire took Derek's back and put on a rear naked choke. As Angel applied the choke with his right arm, Derek turned his head to the left, effectively neutralizing the choke.

Moments dragged into minutes with no discernible advantage gained by either fighter. Both men stood and the fight went back to a standing position. Punches, kicks, knees, and elbows were thrown and received by Derek and Angel, and their actions drew the attention of the group of men who were coming off of their assigned watch. A circle formed and soon the men were cheering Derek on, while silently acknowledging the skill of the vampire.

Blows continued to be countered and exchanged, and soon both men were bleeding lightly from bloody noses and split lips. Angel sported a nasty cut over his left eye that bled down into his field of vision. Derek's right eye was swollen, as he had a cut under his eye that had begun to swell.

"Angel! Derek!"

The souled vampire, who'd been throwing an elbow, turned instinctively at the sound of his name just after Derek launched a knee strike. Both men connected and they fell, getting caught up in the clinch in which they'd been fighting. Cheers rang through the crowd of men but were quickly silenced as Buffy, along with the rest of the recently awakened household, came onto the back porch.

The two men stopped fighting as thought they'd been caught by their mother playing after bedtime. Both, however, were not nearly as sorry as Buffy might've wanted them to be.

Offering his hand, Derek said, "Oh well, at least I got some good shots in. I suspect, though, that you'd have worn me out in the long run, what with the 'not having to breathe' thing."

Angel took Derek's outstretched hand. After a moment, a bloody smile lit up the vampire's face. Both men laughed as they moved to the back porch, with the onlookers actually patting both men on the back as they grabbed their shirts and went inside.

As they all went inside, Buffy walked up to Derek. "What the hell were you doing?"

Looking over at Angel, Derek spoke calmly and slowly. "Buffy, Angel and I were sorting something out. His demon was keeping him from getting settled in and resting, so the easiest thing to do was to let him cut loose for a while, in a controlled setting. I've been around the block, so why not offer him a chance to rest? I figured if his demon took a beating then he'd know his place. Angel's a decent man but he couldn't handle the demonic sensory overload, so I thought I'd help out." He shrugged and grabbed an offered bottle of water from one of the bystanders.

Angel nodded at Buffy, putting his shirt on and speaking. "Buffy, it's OK. I'm fine, and Derek's right, I feel better. Sorry we didn't tell you all what was happening, but it was easier this way."

The eight men coming off of their watch duty were eating quietly, watching Angel closely. Derek had briefed them about Angel, and the men felt a mix of mistrust and acceptance. The fight they'd just watched won most of them over to accepting the vampire's presence as well as reaffirming their appreciation for Derek.

After making sure that his buddies had enough food, everyone settled back down to relax and sleep for the rest of the night. Willow went back to her bedroom, Joyce and Faith to theirs, Giles and Xander to another, and Wes, Angel, and Derek racked out in the living room.

Back in their bedroom, Faith and Joyce began chatting as they tried to go back to sleep. It was a bit awkward to share a bed with the older woman, but they soon found themselves sitting up chatting like two little girls, quietly sharing details about their lives.

"Faith, I just want to say how grateful I am that we have a second chance to connect. I felt horrible about how things happened back in Sunnydale."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't expect things to get so out of control. I just want to try to fix what the past year nearly broke. I'm sorry I hurt your family, Mrs. Summers…" Faith struggled to control her emotions. She knew it was only part of the subterfuge, but it still hurt her.

Joyce shook her head. "Faith, don't even beat yourself up, honey. It's over. And you call me Joyce from now on." She moved to hug Faith from across the bed. Faith broke down, leaning into Joyce's hug and weeping nearly uncontrollably. She wept for the loss of her mother, her childhood, for the loss of Diana, and for making Buffy and the others think she was homicidal. She wept for Wesley, who lost a sister to this fight, for Derek, whose family she never got to know, and for Xander, whose family had all but abandoned him. After a few minutes, her sobs subsided, and Faith leaned back, wiping her tears on her sleeve.

"Faith, I can't imagine how hard your life's been. God knows we didn't make it easy for you to open up. But all that's changed now. We're a family, as odd as it seems to me, and family looks out for each other. I consider you, Willow, and Xander, to be as much of my family as Buffy is, so don't think you're a bother to me at all. We'll get through this mess together."

Xander and Giles walked back into their room and closed the door. Both men had been shocked to see Derek and Angel trading blows, and each had silently laughed at seeing Angel take that last knee to the face.

"That was not the way I'd planned to wake up, G-man. They interrupted a perfectly good dream."

Giles smiled as they tried to get some rest. "Yes, I'd imagine. Xander, how were you made aware of all of this? Things have happened so quickly that I haven't had a chance to ask Wesley or the others."

Xander retold the story, taking time to go over the pertinent details. He glossed over his relationship with Faith but Giles would not let him get away with that.

"So, you seem to have a bit of a pull towards Slayers, yes?"

Xander smiled and replied, "What can I say? They have good taste."

The two men chuckled as they relaxed for the evening. There was so much that both men would like to have said to each other, but they knew that there would be a chance to talk in the morning.


	34. Chapter 34

Buffy and Angel chatted quietly as the men in the kitchen ate their late-night meal. Both were feeling a little more at ease, albeit for different reasons.

"Angel, are you sure you and Derek are OK? The last thing we need is for there to be more trouble from within on top of all of the Watcher's stuff."

"Buffy, don't worry about it. Derek was actually trying to help, and it really did. I have a level of control over the demon inside me that I never had before. I'm still not totally on board with this whole thing, but I think it's going well, so far at least. Derek's a bit of a surprise, though."

Angel kept the revelation that Derek had killed Drusilla to himself. He didn't think that it was his to share with the others, and he figured that Derek would tell them eventually anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, when I found out that he was a preacher I really thought we'd have some problems. But he opened his home to us, he even got Xander to give us a call and keep us in the know. I think Willow's got the wiggins the worst about him. I can't figure out why, but maybe I can talk to her about it tonight. I don't need her freaked out and irritating everyone; we'll have to keep our heads in the game if we want to make it out alive."

She leaned in to Angel and gave him a quick kiss. She didn't know what Angel's return meant for their relationship, but she did want to let him know that she still cared for him. Just as she finished her kiss, Derek walked in from the kitchen into the living room.

"Hey. Enough of that," he said, chuckling as he walked past the couple, "it's late and Angel will heal just fine, Buffy."

The oddness of the comment caused Buffy to smirk and stick her tongue out at Derek, a face and gesture that Derek mirrored back to the blonde Slayer. Angel laughed and shook his head.

"I thought you were supposed to be the respectable one."

Derek laughed. "Yeah, you obviously don't know me well enough yet. Good night, you two. Angel, I tried my best to cover the windows, but if you find yourself sizzling in the morning, please accept my apologies now, head to the basement if you need to, and I'll do a better job covering the windows tomorrow."

"Got it. Thanks."

Buffy retired to her bedroom, hovering between wanting Willow to be asleep so she could get some rest and wanting her awake so that they could try to talk out Willow's issues.

The blonde Slayer exhaled deeply as she walked into the bedroom. Willow was sitting up on her side of the bed, waiting for Buffy to come in.

"Is Angel OK?"

"Yep. He seemed to enjoy their little tussle. What can you do, boys will be boys."

Willow looked down at her hands as though they had a mind of their own. She was fiddling with a stray thread on the blanket.

"Buff, what do you think about Derek?"

It seemed like a good thing that Willow was asking her a question rather than flying off on some tirade. She thought for a moment as she sat on her side of the bed.

"Well, I don't really know. He seems to be an alright guy. I can tell that Mom likes him and Giles seem to be OK with him, so that's something. The whole preacher thing is a little odd. I wouldn't have expected that from him when I first met him, but I haven't been around that many preachers, so I don't know."

Willow nodded. "You're right. I didn't expect that. I can't help but think that at some point he'll launch into some sermon about how we're all going to Hell or something like that. My family hasn't had good experiences with preachers, and my studying magic has shown me that people that say one thing about God being all loving usually don't show it very well."

"I know what you mean, Will. But look at it this way: he let Angel stay here, plus he's been fighting for a while with Wesley and Faith. Maybe we can give him a chance. Isn't that what we've talked about over the past few days? I guess we'll have to try to be patient and see what happens. I know he saved Xander's life the other night, along with the others, so that's gotta count for something."

"I guess, but I don't know if it'll be easy to trust him. This is just so much to take in and my head's still spinning."

Buffy smiled. "Let's try to get some rest, Wills. Tomorrow will be better, right?"

Quinton Travers arrived at Heathrow Airport exhausted. First class or not, transatlantic flights took a toll on the body, and the head of the Watcher's Council was not immune to its effects. He stretched his legs, removed his overnight bag, the only luggage he'd taken to America, and debarked the plane.

He smiled politely at the flight attendants as they said goodbye to the passengers and walked out onto the flight stairs. As he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed a familiar face standing at the bottom of the stairs. He nodded imperceptibly and continued down the stairs.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he reached out and shook the hand of the man he'd recognized. "Winston, good to see you again, old friend."

The man, nearly identical in age and demeanor as Travers, smiled genuinely and returned the greeting, "Indeed, old man, it is good to see you returned safely from the Colonies."

The two men smiled at their long-standing personal joke. Neither of the men harbored hostility towards their old colony but it made for a good laugh from time to time. Both thought of their old history professor at the boarding school they'd both attended; he'd certainly held a sour opinion of the outcome of the American Revolution.

"What brings you to the flight line of our busy airport? I would have called when I returned to the estate."

Travers realized as he and his friend were walking that they weren't headed for the terminal. In fact, they were headed for a vehicle Travers did not recognize.

"Yes, Quinton, about that. I'm afraid that circumstances have arisen that make your return to the estate somewhat difficult, if not downright dangerous."

The head of the Council knew that his friend Winston never backed down from confrontation. It was, along with his steadfast loyalty and friendship, that made Quinton think so highly of the man. However, for him to be so willing to avoid the very organization that they'd served together for so long, spoke to the man's concern for his friend.

"What's happened, Winston?"

Winston slowly shook his head and began telling his story. "It seems that some of our opponents on the Council have decided to act in a more unilateral and aggressive manner than we would like."

"What have they done?" Travers knew that his cobbled together coalition was a tenuous one, and one that had been only a slim majority on the Council. Some of his opponents were far more traditional and hard lined that his supporters, and he'd hoped for a little time before any tensions would have risen.

"A member of one of our special operations units recently returned from America, wounded but alive, bringing with him the remains of three of his teammates. It seems as though they were operating under orders contrary to the Council's express wishes. He says that his orders came, through his team leader, from a member of the Watcher's Council, and that they were instructed to continue the hunt for Faith and Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. They tracked the pair to a cabin in Idaho and began an extraction procedure only to be met with resistance. During the hostilities three of the four-man team were killed and the survivor received a bullet wound in the posterior, courtesy of Mr. Pryce."

The two men continued in silence as they covered the final few hundred yards, where Winston had a car waiting for Travers. When they reached the car and got in, both men continued their conversation.

"Winston, do you have any thoughts as to who this Council member was who gave the order?" Travers had a suspicion but wanted his friend's opinion before he spoke.

"I do remember that Roger Wyndham-Pryce was vocal about retaining the Cruciamentum, and certainly his son's duplicity regarding his and Faith's rogue status cannot be helping the situation. Once our SOG man briefed the Council as a whole, Pryce was strangely silent. I did some checking into the phone logs of the Council Headquarters, but found nothing out of the ordinary. However, one of my trusted technicians found some strange cellular traffic as he went through the cellular phone records he could obtain. He found incoming phone calls from pay phones around the area consistent with Wesley and Faith's location in Sunnydale. It's nothing to bring before the Council as a whole yet because we cannot link Pryce to the group who went after Faith and Wesley in Idaho."

Travers nodded as they travelled out of Heathrow Airport proper. He didn't know where they were headed but he trusted his friend to keep them both safe. "What was the Council's reaction to the news of open dissention?"

Winston glanced over at his friend. "Sadly, many people, even some of those who agreed with us, understood Roger's frustration and anger. They seemed to think that you were trying to circumvent the Council's authority by authorizing this operation without their knowledge. I'd say about sixty percent of the Council has strong feelings against our recent actions. It appears that the unintended consequence of our choices has been to drive a wedge between members of the Council at the expense of the Watcher-Slayer relationship. Ironic, when you think about it, that our attempts to bring those together has resulted in driving us apart."

"Well, old boy, I still believe that it was the right thing to do. If anyone must suffer, it should have always been us. The Slayer, and by extension her Watcher, should have every avenue available to be singularly focused on the fight. For far too long we've had the roles reversed, and I'll defend our decision to my dying breath."

"Quinton, there are members of the Council who would see that breath breathed sooner rather than later. That is why I've met you at the airport, to spirit you away from the hostilities, for now at least. To put it bluntly, there is a coup d'état underway. That forty percent I spoke of earlier? We're going to meet with them shortly."

Travers frowned as he heard the news. The council who for centuries has stood as a bulwark against the forces of evil had splintered into factions. "Winston, surely you can't mean that we are on the run."

"I'm afraid so, Quinton. We're headed to a private airport. From there we will meet with the rest of the Council in exile, as we've begun to refer to ourselves. Before I left the estate for the last time, I was able to plant a listening device in our conference room. There's talk of activating the entire SOG force to track us down and return us to the estate in shackles."

Neither men could fathom just how bad things had gotten so quickly. Travers looked over to his friend as they drove on.

"Winston, what are our assets?"

"We have been frozen out of every Council resource. Truly, we are out in the cold, so to speak. We have at our disposal only that which is in our personal possession."

"Well, it could be worse. I need to get in touch with the Slayers."

Winston smiled as he reached into his coat pocket. "Here. This is a clean, secure, cellular phone. It doesn't exist, if you take my meaning."

Travers smiled at his old friend. He didn't know what the future would hold, but he was grateful to have his lifelong companion close at hand. Opening the phone, he dialed the number that would connect him, he hoped, to some of his few remaining assets.


	35. Chapter 35

Derek was dragged out of a sound sleep by the sound of his phone vibrating. He curiously looked at the display on his phone, seeing that the phone number was listed as, "Unknown."

"Hmm. Interesting." Derek said out loud as he hit the "Talk" button.

"Yes?"

"Mr. James, this is Quinton Travers. Do you have a moment? It's urgent."

Derek mentally snapped to attention as he stood up and walked out onto the front porch.

"Yes, absolutely. What is it?" For Travers to call and actually say that it was urgent meant that it was probably far more urgent than most would consider.

Ten minutes later, Derek walked back into the house. As he closed the front door, he saw that Wesley, Angel, Giles, and Buffy had woken up and were waiting on him. He slowly looked each one of them in the eye.

"We have a problem. Wake everyone up right now."

Twenty minutes and two pots of coffee later, everyone, including Wendell, Jimmy, and the other men who were providing security for the gathered fighters, understood just how bad things had gotten.

Derek spoke. "As I see it, we need to scatter. I had hoped that all of us would have time to rest, relax, and train, but circumstances have prevented us from doing that. It's Travers' opinion, and one with which I agree, that we'll be targets for the radical wing of the Council. I guess it's a matter of payback and setting things right, in their eyes. Travers told me that the Council in exile is willing and able to help us financially as we continue our fight. They, however, have no Council resources, and are probably going to fund this action personally. In any case, I told him to set up an account from which we can draw, if need be, but that for now we'd keep it simple and try to get by on a shoestring budget. The floor's open, what do y'all think?"

Giles spoke first. "I agree with Quinton. We will be targets, given what Quinton told us in Sunnydale about the Council not being unanimous. With this latest information, I think it's reasonable to assume that this hard line element will seek to reassert its dominance over us. If they cannot do that, I think we must all understand that they might be willing to eliminate Buffy and Faith to call additional Slayers, ones they could mold and manipulate."

No one spoke for a few moments, and Joyce broke the silence. "Derek, obviously we're going to fight. What do you suggest we do?" Looking over at Giles, she continued. "I think we're all ready to get moving soon, to do something that will help get things back to as normal as possible."

The younger members of the group were still somewhat stunned. Angel, for his part, understood that this is how humans often solved disputes. Political infighting and drama were all too frequently coupled with violence and hostility, and Angel knew that the best way to deal with it would be to get outside of the initial blast zone, so to speak, and try to get a clear picture of the threats.

"Well, Joyce, we need to split up. Again." Derek shook his head. "I think that, given our size, we'd be a pretty big target if we stayed together. If Travers is right then we can probably assume that we'll get hit again, so if we can split up and stay on the move then we'll give the SOG teams fits trying to track us."

Wendell spoke up. "I'm going to make some calls. Get some folks making food, packing gear, and other stuff you might need. I'll get some guys to get some things together that might help you stay out of trouble." With that, he got up and walked into the kitchen to make those calls.

Derek nodded and continued. "Here's what I have in mind. We pair off and go in different directions, slowly working our way back to Sunnydale. We're going to have to get back to the Hellmouth eventually; we just can't avoid our primary focus. However, by staying on the move, off the grid, maybe we can buy Travers and us some time, stay ahead of our enemies, and get back to business."

"So, here are my thoughts on pairings. I figured we'd split up by pairing a person with a little experience with someone who's been around the block. Giles and Joyce, Faith and Xander, Angel and Buffy, and Wesley and Willow. I'll be the one man show on this one."

Willow spoke up. "Why those groups?" She was a bit unprepared for the thought of being partnered with a guy she didn't know. Wesley, the real one, wasn't the person she'd known in Sunnydale.

Buffy, who'd begun to process all that had happened, spoke before Derek could. "This isn't a bad plan, Will. We don't have the experience doing this kind of thing, and the groups that Derek suggested give us the best chance of living."

Wesley spoke after Buffy had finished. "Willow, surely you can't be worried about little old me?" He grinned a bit and looked at the redhead.

Willow blushed a bit. "Um, no, it's not that. I just, well, I don't really know who you are."

The oddness of that statement, along with its accuracy, made everyone laugh a bit, and seemed to ease the tension. Wesley nodded a bit and replied. "Trust me, Willow, we'll be alright. Look at it like this: we can get to know each other better during the trip."

Willow offered a brief smile, trying to make the best of the situation. Derek felt a pang of sympathy for the recent high school graduate. Sure, he'd been a little irritated by the girl's petulance, but in her defense, she'd been thrown into the deep end with no lessons as to how to swim in these waters.

Wendell walked back in and spoke. "OK, in two hours you'll have more than enough stuff to split between you all. Food, drinks, supplies, it'll be like Christmas." Derek smiled as he thought about how grateful he was to be a part of Wendell's extended family.

"Thanks, Wendell. We can add that to what I have for us. For now, though, we need to get cleaned up, packed, fed, and ready to roll out ASAP. Wes, will you, Faith, and Xander get coffee and breakfast started? Giles, Joyce, Buffy, and Willow, get showered and packed. You can eat and then let the others shower and pack. Angel," he turned to look at the vampire, "since I don't want you to burst into flames, come with me into the basement. I'll need your help to get some things in order for all of us that I have stashed down there."

Angel nodded, and Derek continued. "Everyone get moving. Once everyone's ready, I'll get myself together and give final instructions. Wes, Faith, Angel, and Giles, you've been around the block before, so it'll be a refresher for you, but for the rest of you, you'll need to pay attention and focus. Alright, let's move."

Jimmy and the others stood there, not quite knowing what they should do. Wendell spoke in rapid fire Shoshone, and the others nodded and some began cleaning the place up, while others left out the front and back doors.

Buffy had to ask. "Wendell, what did you tell them?"

Wendell looked at the diminutive girl, still a bit stunned that this girl was a supernatural warrior. She looked no bigger than his Josie. "I told them that we needed to clean Derek's place up and make sure his property is looked after. If a group found this place once, they'll find it again, but if we can make sure it's sterilized, they won't know how long it's been since anyone's been here. It'll throw the timeline off a bit, and maybe buy some time for you all."

Buffy nodded. "That makes sense. This kind of thing is all so new to me."

Wendell nodded. "Fortunately for you, Derek and Wesley have played this game before. Derek's a good man, like a son to me. Wesley, too, but I've known Derek longer. When this is all over you all need to come back and let us show you the full extent of our hospitality. My Josie would love the company."

Buffy smiled. "I can't wait, Wendell. Thank you for taking such good care of the people I care about."

Wendell grabbed the girl and swept her into a big hug. "You take care of the people I care about, little one, so we're even."

Derek walked by and saw Wendell hugging Buffy. "Come on, Wendell, let the girl get ready. You just can't resist a pretty face, can you?"

Wendell laughed and put Buffy down. "What can I say? You've seen my wife!"


	36. Chapter 36

Angel and Derek stood in Derek's basement. By most standards, it was a standard basement. There was the required workbench with a neat top with organized rows of tools mounted on pegboard above the table. That was where the stereotypical basement comparisons ended.

Mounted on the far wall was a target board used for knife throwing. Next to the target was a large gun safe. The adjacent wall held several stand up lockers, the kind once seen in middle schools around the country. Derek walked over to the workbench, reached under one corner and retrieved a set of keys. He took a key off of the ring and tossed that key to Angel.

"Here, unlock those lockers and start getting the stuff out. Put it on the workbench. I'll get the safe opened."

Ten minutes later, Angel and Derek stood next to each other, staring at the loosely organized pile of gear they'd placed on the workbench.

"Derek, what do you have in mind for us?"

Derek smiled as he began to sort out the stuff on the bench. "Well, I have enough gear stashed away down here. I'm going to put together some packs for each person. We'll need kind of a 'one size fits all' bag of goodies. Some of this stuff will be more useful than other stuff, but hopefully between what we have, what Wendell says he's bringing, and the cash resources we have, we'll be alright."

The two men began by sitting eight backpacks out so they could put things inside. The packs were roughly the size of the large sized U.S. issue ALICE packs, so they would hold a substantial amount of gear. Next, they began to sort out the various survival items Derek had stashed in his lockers. Small tents, ponchos, MREs, knives, fire starting tools, and other things got packed neatly into the bags.

Once the bags were packed, the only things that were on the table were the bags themselves. Derek walked over to the open gun safe and began retrieving guns and holsters. In a matter of minutes eight pistols, along with holsters and magazines sat next to the bags. Walking back over to the safe, he grabbed several boxes of ammunition to go along with the guns.

Derek smiled as he began loading the magazines. Looking over to Angel, he smiled. "You gonna help or just stand there? Once these are loaded, get 'em in the holsters and put 'em in the packs. Each person who knows how to shoot will teach the others on the run. You know your way around a gun, right?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, I can hold my own. Listen, what's the time line look like for this. How long do you think we'll need to be on the move?"

Derek thought for a moment as the two men continued to load. "I figure about a month at the most. We can't really stay away from Sunnydale for too long, but left out the way we are now we're too much of a target. On the move, even working back to the Hellmouth, we can keep the collateral damage down. With the four groups on the move, and me doing my thing, it'll be a colossal pain in the butt for anyone tracking us."

Angel nodded. "I think that makes sense. Why are you alone during this thing? Why not just hop into a group and go with them?"

Derek replied, "I have to make a road trip to L.A. I might be bringing someone back to help out with this, and if it works out for us, then we're going to need some time to work some things out; things that don't need to be overheard by others."

Angel's eyebrows arched. "Really? Is it that bad?"

Derek smiled. "Well, not really bad, just awkward and potentially emotional, and it's really only something that the two of us can work out."

Angel nodded and left it at that. Whatever the case might be, if the others needed to know about it, Angel knew that eventually it would come out. He knew that much about Derek just in the day or so he'd known the man.

The bags were loaded, weighing in at about 25 pounds each. Derek and Angel brought the bags upstairs and sat them in the front of the house. The first wave of people showering had finished and were eating, and the other group had begun to clean up and get packed. Giles got Derek's attention as he finished eating the breakfast that had been prepared.

"Derek, go ahead and eat something and get cleaned up. I think everyone's moving towards being ready within the hour."

"Thanks, Giles, I'll do just that." Derek patted the Watcher on his shoulder and went to clean up, leaving Giles, Joyce, and Angel in the kitchen.

"Angel," Joyce spoke to the vampire, "I want you to take good care of Buffy. I know she's got superpowers and everything, but she's a tender heart, and she needs to know that she can rely on you to be there alongside her."

"Joyce, I will. The past three years has shown me a lot. We need to change some things, and I'll do the best I can to be there in a way that's good for Buffy."

The three sat quietly as the other members of the respective teams filtered in. Bags were piled near the door, food was eaten, and they all waited for Derek to get cleaned up and ready. There was a high level of tension in the air, but not directed at any particular person; it merely hung in the air, covering everyone in the room.

Ten minutes later, a freshly showered and dressed Derek James walked into the kitchen. He was dressed in simple jeans and a plain long sleeved t-shirt, with black boots. He poured a cup of coffee and grabbed some eggs and sausage, walking into the living room to join the others.

"OK. Wendell's going to come by in a while with some more supplies for us. Let's take a few minutes to discuss what's about to happen. We're going to engage in a little E&E, escape and evasion. The rules are pretty simple: We're going to stay off the grid for a while, that means no phones, no credit cards, no paper trails. We'll stay under the radar to the point where we won't be leaving our pursuers any little nuggets of information."

Derek opened a bag he'd brought up from the basement and began unloading its contents. The others watched as Derek carefully laid out five stacks of cash.

"Here is some seed money for your trip. I highly advise that you don't try to go directly to Sunnydale on this. It's more difficult on the SOG to have to consider every place we might go. That means that you must avoid your old habits, interests, etc. Don't assume that just because someone's not directly behind you that they cannot track your movement, especially since some of us have a supernatural signature that can be traced.

Remember, we are off the grid here, and pretty secure as a general rule, but those guys were still able to find us here. Consider this money, along with the bags, and whatever Wendell brings, as your only assets. Your goal is to stay on the move, double back on yourselves at times, and generally make any attempt to find you so much of a hassle that no one will be able to do it."

He looked around at the group. All of them were on board with him, at least to the point that no one looked totally lost. Derek went on.

"OK, I've grouped you together so that people who have a little exposure to this kind of thing are with you newbies. You don't have to be an expert. In fact, a little newness just adds flavor to the whole operation, because you might think of doing something so different that anyone trying to track you might not expect it. For those of us who've done this before, sometimes we fall into the same old patterns of doing things that wind up being easy for professionals to spot, so think creatively about how you do things. You newbies, don't act passively and rely on the more seasoned people, add your two cents."

Derek was interrupted by the sound of a horn honking. He looked out of the window and saw three pickup trucks pull up. None of the trucks were brand new and each one had things in the back. Derek smiled as Wendell, Jimmy, and Josie got out of each vehicle. Neither of the three trucks were the same size, year, or model.

The three drivers walked into the living room and handed the keys over to Derek. "Just some things to get you started," Wendell said as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee from the pot he knew would be there.

Jimmy and Josie grabbed a place to sit as Wendell walked back to the living room. Derek smiled and continued. "Well then. Where was I? Right, E&E. With what we've got now, I'd say you should take the next month or so and make your way back to Sunnydale. I've said it before, I just don't think that we can overlook the Hellmouth for very long. Sure, it's closed and things are generally calm during the summer, for some reason, but that doesn't change the fact that vamps can turn people frequently without the Hellmouth being open so we need to be back on station ASAP."

Wendell broke in with his thoughts. "Derek, I want to let you know that those trucks are yours to use however you'd like. In the back of each of the trucks are a couple things. There are coolers and bags with food and drinks, and there are also some goodies that the fellas thought you'd need. When you're done we can go take a look, but consider this our gift to all of you, to keep you safe and get you back to California."

No one knew what to say. The overwhelming generosity was just too much to take. There were smiles and nods all around, and Giles was the first to speak. "Wendell, I don't know what to say. You've opened yourselves up to danger for people you barely know. Even though you know some of us, for you to make such a bold statement of support for us… thank you."

Josie smiled as her dad got some compliments. Jimmy nodded, and answered Giles. "Well, we have experience being outnumbered and outmanned so every little bit helps."

Derek nodded and grinned. "Alright, back to the basics. Each person here has a bag sitting right here that Angel and I packed. Make sure that each of you looks through the bag. For you seasoned guys, you'll know what to do with what's in there, guns included. You'll have to teach the newbies along the way. Sorry, it's just gotta be that way. Giles, Wes, Angel, and Faith, come see me. The rest of you start looking into those bags."


	37. Chapter 37

**_Author's note: _**SteveKratz brought up something I should mention (Thanks for the review, too, you and others.). My plan isn't to go much farther with the group/s talking things out. The plan was to make clear that how the Scoobies handled things was highly dysfunctional and not the way things work in every group. The action's going to be picking up coming up so there won't be time for our folks to do too much touchy-feely communicating.

My desire when I starting this work was to bring a little more "reality" and less angst-filled, straw man attacking, to a great foundation. It always struck me that many characters were clownishly overblown (hard not to do I'd imagine) and I wanted to put these great characters in a more realistic setting. I appreciate y'all coming along with me.

—

Wendell and his family, the four he'd called, and Derek went into the kitchen to talk. Derek passed keys to Angel, Faith, and Giles. He reached into his pocket and gave Wes his truck keys.

"After we've finished talking, you four figure out which direction you'll start in. There are maps in the drawer over there," Derek said, pointing to a drawer across the room, "so get a good idea. Don't write anything down, don't make copies of anything. Be as creative as you can. Change your appearance if you want, do whatever you can think of to throw someone off your trail, double back on yourselves. Check your mirrors. If you even suspect you're being tailed, take the appropriate steps to lose them. Fight only if you're provoked. Keep your heads down but your eyes up. All cash transactions from now until this is over; credit cards leave a trail. Let's plan on meeting, just the five of us, at the Espresso Pump one month from now, at 9:00PM."

Each person nodded, and Josie asked a question. "What about you? Where are you going?"

Derek smiled. "You don't need to know the where, but just know that I'll be safe. I'm heading to try to find some help with this. The less you know the better, Josie. I'm not just winging this." This seemed to keep her calm, for now, at least.

Wendell chimed in. "Josie, Derek's going to spend the morning with us, have lunch, then leave, so you'll have some time together before he goes."

Josie smiled, and the others chuckled a little bit. Faith had one question. "D, what about our cover stories?"

"What about 'em? I'd say you better come up with one, or better yet, come up with a couple and get your stories straight. If I don't know the stories then I can't give 'em up."

Having finished the final preps for his people, Derek got everyone back together into the living room. "Alright, partner up and snag a vehicle. I want to be out of here in ten minutes. You leaders, brief your people as you get on the road. Stagger your departure times by about fifteen minutes."

People began moving and getting together according to the pairs Derek had chosen. Bags were packed, goodbyes were said, and each group took off according to plan. Left by themselves, Derek, Wendell, and his family finished cleaning up the food and plates.

"Derek, the boys will come over and sanitize this place once you're gone. Just relax before the trip."

Derek smiled and nodded, but he couldn't help but have a few butterflies in his stomach. He was relaxed, but he couldn't help but be a bit concerned about how the conversation would go once he arrived in L.A. and found his intended target.

**—**

Xander and Faith were the first pair to leave Derek's property. They had decided to develop the cover of newly graduated high schoolers taking a cross country road trip. Not too original, but it seemed to work for starters. Giles and Joyce had chosen the "college professors on sabbatical" cover, Wes and Willow were brother and sister, and Angel and Buffy were newlyweds; Xander smiled at the thought of each of them trying to play their respective roles, should the need arise.

As they'd looked through the bags Wendell had given them, they saw the thoroughness with which Derek and Wendell operated. They had food, money, and weapons to get them back to Sunnydale. They figured they could get clothes along the way if they needed them. Faith had briefed Xander about what Derek had told them, including the meeting that was scheduled at the Espresso Pump.

"Faith, what do you think about this plan? It seems weird to split up and go in separate directions."

Faith looked over as she drove. "Well, think of it this way. It's a whole lot harder to find two people than find eight or more, right? If we were holing up at D's place, then you'd be right. We'd have to stand together and fight. But on the road, we'd need at the very least an SUV or RV, and at most a convoy of cars. Nah, D's right on this one, we've gotta split up to make it back to Sunny D."

Xander took that in for a few moments. So much of what happened in the last few days had simply overwhelmed him, so it was hard to focus on any one particular thing. When he considered what Faith had said about Derek's plan, he had to admit that it made sense.

"Yeah, you've got a good point. What do you think about the pairings? I mean, no one has it as good as you do, of course, but other than that?"

Faith smiled. "Modest much? They aren't bad; Derek made the best of a bad hand, I think. Putting Buffy and Angel together made sense, same with Giles and Joyce. I wouldn't have waited ten seconds before I knocked Willow out; sorry, but that's oil and water. So what choice did he have, really? I don't think Derek, as much patience as the man has, and trust me, he had the patience of Job with me last year, could handle Willow's nagging and bitching about the whole preacher thing. It'd be a big distraction, and a distracted fighter is a dead fighter."

"You're right, I think. Willow can be like a dog with a bone sometimes. Wesley's probably the best one to deal with her moods. Any word about where Derek was headed?"

"Nope, he didn't say. Just that he was going to try to rustle up some help for us."

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence for the next few hours. They'd decided beforehand to drive for a few hours, sticking to the backroads, stopping only to gas up. They'd take turns driving, to minimize the exposure to the public. Their direction was generally south, working back to Sunnydale gradually as the map showed them that the roads would allow.

**—**

Derek sat at Wendell's kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee and listening to Josie go on about how he shouldn't be going anywhere by himself.

"Listen, Josie, I'm only going from here to L.A. alone. I'm about 99% sure that I'll be heading to Sunnydale with someone."

"Who? Who do you know in Los Angeles, Derek?" Josie wouldn't let it go, and Derek decided that it couldn't hurt to share some of this thoughts.

"Josie, I'm going to find my wife's sister. She lives in L.A. and it's been too long since we've spent any time together. We all used to be really close and when I joined the Legion I didn't spend as much time with her as I would have liked. She's a great woman and I think that now's a good time to reconnect and see if she's up to help us out. She's a lot like my wife, strong and smart."

The mention of Derek's past brought Josie up short a bit, and calmed her down some. "Oh. I didn't mean to pry into..."

"No problem, Josie. I don't mind talking about it, I just didn't want to put you in a tough spot in case anyone came by asking questions."

Wendell spoke up for the first time in the conversation. "We'll make sure no one finds out anything, Derek. Josie knows how to keep a secret, right, sweetheart?" He looked over to Josie as though his question was a statement.

"Yes, daddy," Josie said, smiling sweetly. There must have been an inside joke there but Derek didn't pry.

Lois walked over to the table and sat down with a glass of water. "Derek, why do you think that your sister-in-law can or will help you with this?"

Derek smiled as he answered. "I just have a feeling she'll want to help out, once she knows the score. She's never liked bullies, and I know she has a clear sense of good versus evil. She's not without skills, too."

"Skills?" Wendell smiled at the vague nature of Derek's answer.

"Yeah, skills. Not as good as my skill set but she'll get the job done. She and her sisters were great shots and good in a fight. Their daddy was a Vietnam vet and a woodsman; he wouldn't have dainty girls that needed a man to take care of them so he taught 'em all that stuff."

"What's she doing out in L.A. then? I'd have figured she'd be out in a place like this."

Derek smiled again. "Work. She got a pretty good job a few years back and has made some good career choices, so she's kind of stuck there, at least until I show up with a tall tale of demons and vampires and, hopefully, pull her away from the job."


	38. Chapter 38

Xander and Faith's trip back to Sunnydale was filled with boredom and tension. On the one hand they were acutely aware of how dangerous their trip was and the potential for natural and supernatural attacks. However, on the other hand, the meandering route they'd determined was best included long, tiresome trips down the backroads of multiple states.

Most of the time was spent getting to know each other. Both had long realized that they shared many of the same childhood experiences. Faith, for her part, shared elements of her story that she'd previously only told Diana and Wesley. She suspected that Derek could probably guess some of the details, and know doubt Wes would've asked him for some advice on how to be helpful, but she knew he'd never ask her to share things if she wasn't comfortable sharing them.

Where Faith's trauma centered mostly on the people who found their way into her life Xander's issues flowed directly from his own parents. He told Faith about the drinking and the beatings, the fear-based enabling he'd witnessed his mom engage in, and his privately held fears, suspicions really, that he was somehow fated to follow in his father's footsteps.

"That's BS, Xander," Faith told him, "it'd be one thing if you didn't have anyone around you who had good sense. You've got at least a half dozen people who care about you and want to help you, so don't tell yourself that anymore."

To his credit Xander held his tongue. He knew Faith was right but old thoughts die hard. He smiled and nodded, shifting the subject somewhat.

"So, I was thinking that I might apply to get into college when we get back."

Faith nodded and thought that over as she drove. "Sounds good. I think that'd be a good first step to checking that 'I'm gonna be like my dad' business."

"Yeah, maybe. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, what are your plans for when we get back? You have to have thought about that."

Faith took her time mulling over Xander's question. Truthfully, Faith had thought briefly about college during the time when she'd been "evil." However, her own survival had taken up much of her mental energy and she hadn't thought much more about it.

"Well, to be honest, I did think about college. But I don't know. The past year made it hard for me to think about anything more than staying alive. I guess I don't know that I'm really one for going to class, taking notes, and scrambling for grades."

Xander was a little taken aback by that. He'd always assumed that everyone should, and would want to, go to school, to get good jobs, and generally to pursue what people called, "The American Dream."

"What about your future? Wouldn't getting your education help you, long term?"

"Yeah, I actually have thought about that. Had a chat with Wes about it one day a few months ago. He assumed we'd all survive this thing and we sat and chatted at the Pump, just two random strangers talking vaguely about education.

Wes pointed out that not everyone learns the same way and some people wouldn't really be suited for college. He also reminded me, a 'stranger,' that there was a difference between 'college' and 'education.' I never thought about it that way before and I've really been thinking that, since I have a job, I could spend my free time pursuing an education and not formally going to college."

Xander sat back and thought for a time. "I guess that makes sense, Faith. I've never heard the distinction being made like that before but it's a fair point. What did you mean, 'I have a job?'"

"I'm on the payroll at the Espresso Pump. Derek and Wes pay well and they give good benefits so I've got a pretty sweet medical/dental/retirement thing going on, too."

To say that Xander was shocked would've been an understatement. He paused and found himself laughing out loud. "Are they hiring? I could use a little pocket money."

Faith laughed as she looked over to Xander in the passenger seat. "Let's get back to Sunnydale and I'll put in a good word with my boss. Now, grab that map and let's find a place to crash. I'm worn out and we need to rest."

—

Roger Wyndham-Price was seething as he pondered his next move within the comfort of his office in the Watcher's Council headquarters. He had been briefly caught off guard when Thomas, a trusted member of his faction, arrived back in England via cargo ship, bringing along the corpses of the four-man SOG team.

Recognizing that this American who'd been associated with his son was serious, Price considered his options, having spoken with the lone survivor of the attempted retrieval of Faith and his own son.

"Wesley," the man spat out loud as he mused, "you've always been a disappointment. Now, you've drawn first blood in a game for which you are woefully unprepared."

Thomas had told him that while the assault on the American's house had been a failure he did learn that it would appear that Wesley had, through the actions of the other members of his team, which included young Mr. Harris, reached out in an attempt to unite the two Slayers and their subsequent supporting cast.

"This will not do. Usurpers, all of them," Price muttered as he reached for his telephone. Picking up the receiver he dialed a few numbers. "Jameson, this is Price. I'd like to know the whereabouts of Quinton Travers and the other Council members who supported him. Contact the coven and tell them to take the appropriate actions."

He paused before hanging up. "Additionally, I'd like to have Teams 9, 12, 14, and 15 put on pre-deployment status. Give them 96 hours to prepare themselves and arrange transportation. Let them know they'll be heading to Sunnydale and they'll receive orders en route."

Price replaced the receiver into its cradle and reclined in his high-backed leather desk chair. As he considered what he had just set into motion he thought about the possibility of having to tell his wife that their son came to a violent end.

"Regrettable, but such is life in our line of work," Price said to no one in particular. His wife would understand that these things happen even if she would never know of her husband's role in their son's death.

—-

Derek's drive may have been the least eventful of all of the trips. He barely stopped for anything other than gas so he made good time. As he made his way to his sister-in-law's office he considered how he would tell her about what had been going on in his life over the years. When he thought about what the revelation would do to her way of looking at the word he had to chuckle. An idea popped into his mind as a way to help ease her into his world and it made Derek laugh out loud.

He parked the truck in the visitor parking lot, crammed his belongings in the front _after all, it is Los Angeles_, and locked the doors. Taking a deep breath, Derek walked up the steps and into the building.

Derek walked directly up to the person working at the front desk. Looking at his name tag, Derek cleared his throat and calmly spoke.

"Good morning. I'm looking for Kate Lockley."


	39. Chapter 39

As Xander and Faith made their way closer to Sunnydale, passing through Reno, Xander considered their options upon arriving home. He wanted to get out of town for the summer and beyond that he hadn't truly thought much farther than that. Xander looked over at Faith sleeping fitfully over in the passenger seat and figured he'd talk to her at some point after this current crisis was resolved.

The miles dragged on and Xander thought through what he might want to do with his post-high school life. This huge opportunity had dropped into his lap with Derek, Wes, and Faith that he'd never dreamed possible. Once they all got back together and things settled down there was always college, although he didn't really know what he'd study and money was a bit of an issue. He knew he needed to leave his parents' house and that toxic environment but to where?

Xander was startled out of his thoughts as Faith woke with a scream and flailed around the passenger seat.

"Faith! Faith! It's OK! You're alright! It's me!"

Faith looked over at Xander, wild eyed and panicked. He hadn't noticed it before but Faith had been sweating as she had been sleeping. Faith took a few minutes before she spoke.

"Whew. Sorry, Xan. That wasn't pleasant."

Xander nodded and smiled a bit. "Yeah, I'll bet. What was that all about, anyway? You OK?"

Faith nodded and ran her fingers through her hair and put it up in a loose ponytail to get it out of her face. Sighing she began. "I was with you in the Espresso Pump and we were surrounded by an army of humans and demons. Just hundreds of 'em, all wanting us dead. We were all there, you, me, Wes, Buffy, everyone."

Xander took a deep breath and considered what Faith had said. On the one hand, dreams are just that. On the other, Faith was a Slayer, and their dreams aren't ones you just ignore, unless you have no desire to live a long, healthy life.

"OK, let's think about this. Do you think this was one one those prophetic types of dreams?"

"I don't know. We were all there, which kinda makes me think it might be one."

As they continue driving Xander chose his words carefully. "Well, the mix of demons and humans is weird. I can't see that happening. Maybe once we get back to Sunnydale we can talk it all out. I've got nothin', right now, anyway."

"Yeah. Let's just stay on the move and get back home."

—-

During the first three days of their escape and evasion Willow and Wesley fell into a companionable rhythm. Each would take a turn driving and they'd find an out of the way motel and get as much rest as possible. Neither of them felt it wise to bring up sore spots over concerning the past year or so and that made for a relatively drama-free trip.

Willow was pleased to realize that Wesley wasn't anything like the rigid and simpering person he'd presented himself as upon his arrival and during his stay in Sunnydale. It struck her as odd that he was an intriguing mix of culture and approachability. She surmised that it must have been his time in the Foreign Legion that made him a little more down to earth.

For his part, Wesley was surprised to learn that Willow's parents had basically travelled for much of her childhood and, as a result, she was far more well read than he'd have expected her to be. Their conversations ranged from Homer to Harry Potter, which made the Legionnaire grateful for the distraction from more dangerous conversation topics. However, he couldn't avoid dangerous ground forever.

"Willow, as much as I've appreciated the literary distraction, I have to ask a serious question. Feel free to take as much time answering as you'd care to."

Willow shifted in her seat and prepared herself mentally for the question. "Um, OK, Wesley. What is it?"

"When we all return to Sunnydale, is Faith's relationship with Xander going to be a problem for you, in light of all that you've discovered about what was actually going on last year?"

_There it is_. thought Willow, _the big question. _Willow began thinking about the previous year and how she'd been so wrong about Faith, Wesley, and what really happened leading up to graduation day. After about five minutes, the redhead answered.

"Wesley, the past week has been a struggle for me. I've gone from trying to save Angel from Faith, trying to keep Buffy, Xander, Giles, and even Cordelia safe, to trying to just survive graduation day and keep the Mayor from ascending. Now, in the course of a few days, I find out that everything I was certain of was not actually the truth. That sure, some of the good guys were good guys, but some of the bad guys were actually the good guys, too. And more than that, some other guy was lurking in the shadows, and HE was a good guy!"

Wesley winced as he let Willow speak. He tried his best to put himself in Willow's shoes and realized just how hard this must've been for her. While she was experienced in many ways concerning the fight against what goes bump in the night he had to remind himself that experience in one area didn't equate to experience in all areas. He nodded slowly and let Willow continue.

"Wesley, I don't know how I feel about all of it. I'm trying to remind myself over and over again that Faith was only acting evil. But all I can think of is her nearly KILLING Xander and Angel! I know it was part of the plan to appear that way but still, it's tough to think about and not get furious with her." She shook her head and went on. "And honestly, I don't know if I want to be around Derek much. My family hasn't had good times with Christians, much less pastors, what with the Judaism, and all. And don't even get me started on the whole witchcraft thing."

At that point Wesley smiled and interjected, "Well, not to belittle your experiences with men like Derek, let me assure you, from personal experience as well as operating with him, he's not one to throw things like that in anyone's face. I can tell you, though, there will be times he'll politely excuse himself from some things, if he feels like he's being put in a tight spot, conscience-wise, or if his presence is hindering things. I've worked with him for nearly a decade and I haven't seen him cause problems with people one time. You won't hear any lectures or issues from Derek unless you want to, and even then, you'll have to initiate them. He's one of the more focused men I've ever seen when it comes to this job."

Willow thought about that and answered carefully, not wanting to offend Wesley. "Well, I'll take your word for it, for now. I guess time will tell. Anyway, it's not like he's here now, so maybe this whole scattering thing is good for more than just making us harder to track."

Wesley chuckled and nodded. "Perhaps. But please, Willow, if you have problems, feel free to talk with me as well as Giles, Joyce, or Buffy. Derek, too, could be a valuable resource. You never know."

—-

_I do believe I'm getting to old for this sort of rubbish_ Quinton Travers thought as he prepared, yet again, to relocate to a different location. Over the past three days he'd switched hotels three times and currently found himself in a taxi to yet another hotel.

The past few days had found the exiled head of the Watcher's Council on the run from elements within the Council who decided that the message needed to be sent that the Council ran things and not the Slayers.

They'd made their move swiftly, finding nearly all of the Council members who'd supported him, leaving Travers on the run, with only a small bag of personal items, a clean, untraceable cell phone, and the accumulated wisdom of a man who'd operated for nearly seven decades in some of the most hostile situations imaginable.

He'd thus far been able to stay a few moves ahead of Roger Wyndham-Price and his rogue elements. However, time had been on the side of Price's SOG units. They'd scooped up nearly everyone in whom Travers had placed any trust. All had been taken alive except his dearest friend, Winston, who'd gone out in a hail of bullets just a day ago, shortly after leaving a voicemail on Travers' phone. Winston had given his life in the process of relaying to Travers that numerous SOG units were descending on Sunnydale in a full-court press on the Slayers and their support network.

Travers deduced that Winston had either found a way to crack Price's communications network, which was unlikely given his old friend's disdain for technology, or, more likely, someone had tipped him off. It was either that this person was either part of Price's scheme to get Winston and Travers or was actually on their side. In any case, Travers knew his friend had given his life for the cause, and that was not something that Quinton Travers took lightly.

"Driver, here is fine, please stop," Travers said to the cabbie as they pulled up to an intersetion. Paying the man he left the cab and began walking up to the slightly rundown hotel he knew was merely two blocks away.

The plan was to get out of England and into the United States. In addition to his genuine passport he also had two others he could use, so entering the country wouldn't be difficult. The hard part would be how to secure transportation.

_Heathrow's right out. Private charters, too. Once I get into my room I'll put a call in to Mr. James. He may have some ideas from his colorful past._

Had Travers bothered to consider a glance back at his cab driver he'd have seen a man incredibly fixated on him and his destination. However, Travers was lost in thought and so he did not see the cab driver talking briefly into his own cell phone.

"Tell Mr. Price I found him."


	40. Chapter 40

The man looked the visitor up and down, decided he would be willing to part with that information, and gruffly nodded. "One minute." He picked up a phone, jabbed at a few numbers, and spoke quickly.

"Yeah, Lockley, you have a visitor up front. He looks legit. OK, I will."

"She'll be up in a minute. Sit tight."

Derek nodded and thanked the man. He didn't bother with a "You're welcome" but nodded back and went about his business. Derek milled around the front of the precinct house, waiting for his late wife's sister, so that he could drop a bomb on her world.

He had his back to her as she walked up, so Kate didn't see who he was.

"I'm Detective Kate Lockley. How can I..." She lost her words when Derek turned around and smiled.

"Hi, Katie."

Without thinking, Kate Lockley grinned a lopsided grin and faked a stern look. "So you think you can call me, 'Katie" after all this time, do you?"

Derek grinned right back and acted hurt. "Well, I just thought..."

"Ha! The next time you think will be the first time!" She dropped the stern look. "So..."

Derek knew what she was after but didn't want to discuss it in front of Sergeant Tomlinson. "Can I buy one of L.A.'s finest a cup of coffee and some breakfast?"

Kate rolled her eyes at the question. "Yes but only if you never say anything that cheesy again."

The two walked out to Kate's car. She was, after all, on duty, so there was the possibility of her needing to make a quick exit. Derek told her that'd be fine, that he could find his way back to the station. Getting into Kate's car, Derek suppressed the bittersweet feelings he was having. He knew being around Kate would bring back memories of his wife so he had been prepared for how he felt now.

Lockley made the first move in the conversation. "So how long's it been, Derek? Two, three years? Why the sudden appearance?" She knew better than to even consider that Derek was in some sort of trouble with the law; she knew her sister's husband well enough to know that wasn't even on the radar.

Derek ran his hand over his short brown hair. "Yeah, Katie, it's been about three years. I'm really sorry. The Legion kept me on the move. Did you get any of my letters?"

Kate smiled. "I did. They were a poor substitute for visits, Derek, but they were always appreciated. How have you been?"

Derek winced a bit. He hated that he'd been so out of touch with the one family member he had left. "Katie, I've been better; I'm really tired. My work in the Legion put me in some strange places doing some strange things. Some of those things are actually contribute to the why I decided that I needed to see you."

Kate scrunched her face up in confusion. "What do you mean? I know what your job was in the Legion but how could it possibly involve me?"

"Well, it does and it doesn't. The thing is, I've been here in the States, actually here in California, for the past year."

Derek braced himself for the explosion he half expected was coming. To her credit, Kate managed to keep her temper in check. He'd expected that Kate would react to things the same way his wife had. While she didn't, exactly, she did not, however, keep her irritation in check.

"Really. A year? Thanks, Derek. Thank you for being so close to me but leaving me all alone. You know, you're the only family I have left, just like you. Mom, Dad, Monica, Olive, everyone, gone! I've lived so long knowing you were across the ocean, doing God knows what, but at least you weren't here. Now I find out that you were a few hours away?!"

Her hurt was palpable. So much so that she failed to notice how her words were affecting Derek. He sat there and took the tongue lashing he knew he deserved, but that didn't stop his eyes from welling up with tears.

"Katie, I'm so sorry. I don't have an excuse so I won't try to insult you by telling you I have one. But the reason I was in California wasn't an easy one to handle. It's also what's brought me here today."

Kate stopped when she saw that Derek was actually crying. Her tone softened a bit. "What is it, Derek? Talk to me. Look, I just needed to vent. I'm sorry. Go on."

Derek took a deep breath, exhaled, and went on. "I was in Sunnydale doing some work that technically was Legion work but was also, technically, illegal. I don't mind telling you about that since no innocents were harmed. Far from it. Katie. I wouldn't lie to you about this. I might not handle every situation the way I should but you deserve to know the entire score, so here we go."

Kate was even more confused as she sat in her squad car. She'd never known Derek to sound so cryptic so she made up her mind to hear him out before acting on what he said.

"OK, Derek, go on."

Derek continued. "When I joined the Legion, Katie, I was able to earn a spot in a special operations unit. I was assigned to a sniper platoon, where I learned the kind of stuff your daddy taught you and Monica. You know that part of the story. My spotter was a Brit named Wesley. After training we were assigned to the same unit, where we did what snipers do: we hunted."

He paused, then continued. "Anyway, during the course of our jobs I discovered that not everything was as I thought. Strange things would happen from time to time, or our weapons loadouts for particular jobs were very specific and very unusual. I asked Wes about it one night in a bar in Corsica, and he opened my eyes to a world within a world. We sat and talked about how there were forces at work, creatures, demons, and a whole assortment of things about which I was unaware."

I was just beginning to reply to him that I thought he was nuts when a woman came up to us. Trust me, Katie, it was bizzare. It wasn't really that she was attractive, just mesmerizing. I sat there as she stood over us, seemingly freezing us in our places. She was babbling on and on about all kinds of stuff to Wes, but when she looked over at me, she freaked out. Her face changed, it got all scrunched up and bumpy, and she grew fangs. A second later, she attacked me with a loud shriek and we fought for a moment or two before she dove out of a window."

Katie was hanging on his words. "Fangs? Do you mean that she was a vampire or something? Really?"

Derek smiled a thin, humorless smile. "That's exactly what I'm telling you. They're real, Katie. Vampires, demons, all sorts of creatures that we thought were only in bedtime stories. Wes and I have been fighting them ever since Corsica, but the fight's been going on longer than that."

Kate took a few moments and then replied to Derek. "So let me see if I have this straight. You hunt monsters for the French Foreign Legion? And that brought you to Sunnydale?"

"Um, that's mostly right, but not totally. And it sounds much less ridiculous when I say it in my head. You see, there's a group of people in Sunnydale who are basically waging war twenty-four hours a day. Wes and I were helping them."

"And you couldn't take time to call me?" Kate sounded dejected and disappointed as she spoke.

Derek looked forlorn. "I should have. Our work was deep cover but I could've called you. I'm sorry, Kate. I really am. I'm here now not only to fix that but also to ask you to consider a request."

"Wow, Derek, you haven't changed, you're still more guts than brains." She smiled as she went on. "Tell me, what is this request?"

Derek took a moment to consider how to proceed. He finally decided on his words and charged forward. "Well, quite frankly, we're fighting a two front war. On the one side are the vampires and creepy crawlies. On the other are group whose desire is to get us out of the way so they can consolidate power."

"These people, can I assume that they're human?"

"Yes, they are human."

Kate nodded. "And what is it you want from me?"

Derek smiled. "I want you to come to Sunnydale with me and help me. I want you around, in my life. I've been so lonely without my family, and that's what you are. I've neglected its importance until a few months ago when I saw how close this group should have been but wasn't."

Katie took a long time to respond. Derek knew her well enough to let her take her time thinking it through.

"So you're asking me to what, take a leave of absence from the LAPD?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure you're going to be able to walk away from this fight once this initial business is done."

Kate thought about what Derek said for a moment. He was probably right, if it was the way he said, she wouldn't want to stop helping out.

"Derek, it's not that I think you're lying to me, but do these monsters, whatever, only live in Sunnydale? Is that why you have to be there?"

Derek shook his head. "No, they're all over, most places, anyway. They're definitely here in Los Angeles."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not. Want to have your mind blown? I can take you somewhere for confirmation, if you'd like."

"Is it safe?"

"Safe-ish. It's relative. Let's go. We can pick up breakfast tacos on the way. I'll tell you the address."


	41. Chapter 41

Derek walked down the stairs towards the below street-level access to where he was taking Kate. As they neared the door he turned and looked Kate directly in the eyes and offered a warning.

"Katie, I want to warn you ahead of time of a couple of things. First, you're going to overwhelmed by what you see, but you need to keep it together. For real. You've seen a lot but you haven't seen what I'm about to show you. So be cool. Second, there's a specific "no weapons" policy here, so don't freak out if you're asked to check your weapons. I'm going to do the same. It's completely safe here; the name of this place is 'Caritas' and the owner had a spell cast so that there's no supernatural violence here."

Katie smirked at Derek. "A spell, huh? No violence? In a club?"

Derek smiled. "Yep. It works, too. I've seen guys try to start something and nothing happened. It was pretty funny. The owner then politely asked them to leave. Which brings me to Point Three. The owner's name is Lorne, and he's… well, he's a different sort of cat. Not a literal cat, mind you, but he's interesting, to say the least. And then there's Point Four. This is a karaoke bar so you'll hear all kinds of singing. There's also a Point Five but I think I've given you enough, for now."

Kate Lockley watched her brother-in-law's face for any hint that he was joking. Seeing none, she burst out laughing.

"Surely, you're kidding. Right?"

Smiling, Derek put his hand on the small of Kate's back and guided her towards the door. "Katie-girl, prepare to have your mind blown." Opening the door, Derek walked through the entrance and in they went.

Walking into the club, Derek snuck in front of Kate, so that he met the human doorman first, and thereby show Kate how the weapons-check process worked. Walking through the metal detector he walked over to a table and began putting his weapons, which included two pistols, three knives, a sap, a collapsable baton, four stakes, and two razor blades tucked under the collar of his shirt, into a bin. He received a ticket to be able to claim his gear later.

"Derek, you walked into a police station with all this stuff on you?"

Derek looked at her innocently. "Yeah. Why?"

She shook her head, incredulously. "Never mind." She took off her primary and backup pistols, her own collapsable baton and knife, and received her own claim ticket.

They both turned and faced the club proper, taking in the sights. Derek turned and watched Kate, having already had his mind expanded to the creatures of the night, and wanting to see his sister-in-law's reaction.

He was not disappointed. Kate Lockley thought, to that point, that'd she'd pretty much seen it all during her time with the LAPD. Now, as she stood in a bar that included vampires, what looked like three drunk werewolves, and probably two dozen types of demons, or what she assumed were demons, she stood mystified and totally speechless.

Derek stood next to her with a small smile on her face. He wanted to give her time to take it all in and then ask questions at her own pace. However, her silence was interrupted by the voice of someone coming up from beside them.

"Well, well, well, it seems like we've got a first-time visitor to good old Caritas! Allow me to be the first to welcome you and offer you a drink, on the house. After all, LAPD's just as welcome here as anyone."

Derek knew that voice, smiled, and turned to face its owner. "Hello, Lorne. Always working the public relations angle, huh?"

Lorne didn't miss a beat. "Don't you know it. So, what brings the carpenter's apprentice into Caritas this fine morning? Where've you been? Don't tell me you made a special trip to LA because you missed your green-skinned, snappy-dressing pal?"

"Well, Lorne, I've been walking in the world for a while, bringing the Word to them as need it told."

The two smiled at the long-standing banter between them and shook hands. Derek turned to Kate.

"Lorne, allow me to introduce you to Kate Lockley, member of the LAPD and all-around great gal. Kate, this is Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, late of the Pylean dimension, and currently The Host here at Caritas."

Kate offered her hand slowly to Lorne. Lorne took her hand and gently kissed the top of it, old-school style.

"Au chante, mademoiselle." He smiled warmly at Kate then turned to Derek.

"Derek, I do so love how you introduce me. If you ever retire you'll always have a place here at Caritas."

"I can't think of a better offer for my retirement, my friend."

Kate watched the two men, well, one man and one demon, go back and forth like old friends. She realized that Derek must have more of a history than even she knew.

"So, Detective…"

"Please, call me Kate."

"Oh, you know the way right into my heart, sweetie. OK, Kate, why don't you tell me what brings you to my fair establishment?"

Derek answered for her. "Well, Lorne, this is Katie's introduction to the more unconventional residents of the City of Angels."

Lorne smiled at Kate, who had the presence of mind to smile in return. "Ah, well then, isn't this the dawn of a new day in the life of LA's finest of the fine! So, Miss Lockley, what are your first impressions?"

Kate smiled and said, "I guess it's too much to hope that all of these folks are like you, charming and self-deprecating?"

Lorne threw his head back, laughing loudly and deeply. "Oh my heavens, if this isn't the best way to start the day. I've got a new favorite person! Sadly, my sweet, I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that they're good folks when they're here." He squinted briefly and looked to Derek.

"You didn't tell her Point Five, did you?"

Derek looked away briefly at a random spot in the background. "Well, no. Figured it'd be an interesting surprise that you could share."

Kate looked suspiciously over to Derek. "You mentioned 'Point Five' but didn't elaborate. What's the big deal about that?"

Lorne looked at the tall, blonde police officer and smiled. "Well, precious, it's like this. Folks find their way to Caritas, hop up on stage, and belt out their favorite tune. While I'm listening I get a peek behind the curtain and help guide them onto the right path, according to the 'Powers That Be.'"

"Lorne's an empath. He sees into your soul, which is how he first explained it to me. His bar is a sanctuary of sorts."

Kate looked at her brother-in-law. "You've done this?"

Before Derek could answer, Lorne interrupted him. "Sugarpipes here has performed but I couldn't get a read on him. We talked afterwards and figured it had something to do with his religious faith but that didn't stop us from becoming friends. He hadn't been in for a while but every now and then I'd get a card or letter, just checking in."

Kate smiled at the empath demon. "Yeah, that sounds like Derek. So what did he sing?"

Derek began pondering his shoes as Lorne looked at him and smiled. "He did a more than passable version of 'Grow Old with Me' by John Lennon. Even the hardest hearted killer shed a tear or two that night. Yeah, it got a little heavy in Caritas. Caught us right in the feelings."

Kate's potential jokes died on her lips as she teared up and wiped her eyes. "That was the song you danced to with Monica," she whispered.

"Yeah. It was just as you took the job with the LAPD and I helped you move in. That time on leave was right after I got smartened up to what life's really like. Wes told me to check Lorne's place out and, well, it seemed like the thing to do. I didn't really want to sing, and I didn't want Lorne to read me. He told me he knew that but thought singing just might help me some. Cut loose a little, he told me. At the time I tried but once I saw that song on the list… well, it just seemed like the thing to do."

"Listen, kids, why don't you find a table, and I'll send Carlos over with some drinks and a menu. We've got a great breakfast buffet. It'll knock your socks off. I'll swing by in a few shakes of a lambs tail and we'll get to know each other better."

Derek nodded, grateful to Lorne for changing the subject. He suspected the demon knew Derek needed bailing out. As they looked for a table, however, Derek shifted into work mode, as he noted a well-dressed, longish-haired young human man eyeballing him from across the bar. Since no one knew he'd be here Derek made a mental note of the man's appearance for future reference.


End file.
